Background

Personal seal of Sir William Wallace, found on a letter written on 11th day of October 1297, to the mayor of Lübeck, Germany.

Statue of Wallace at Edinburgh Castle

William Wallace was a member of the lesser nobility, but little is definitely known of his family history or even his parentage. Blind Harry's late-15th-century poem gives his father as Sir Malcolm of Elderslie; however William's own seal, found on a letter sent to the Hanse city of Lübeck in 1297,[4] gives his father's name as Alan Wallace.[5][6] This Alan Wallace may be the same as the one listed in the 1296 Ragman Rolls as a crown tenant in Ayrshire, but there is no additional confirmation.[7] Blind Harry's assertion that William was the son of Sir Malcolm of Elderslie has given rise to a tradition that William's birthplace was at Elderslie in Renfrewshire, and this is still the view of some historians,[8] including the historical William Wallace Society itself.[9] However, William's seal has given rise to a counter claim of Ellerslie in Ayrshire. There is no contemporary evidence linking him with either location, although both areas had connections with the wider Wallace family.[10] Records show early members of the family as holding estates at Riccarton, Tarbolton, and Auchincruive in Kyle, and Stenton in East Lothian.[11] They were vassals of James Stewart, 5th High Steward of Scotland as their lands fell within his territory. Wallace's brothers Malcolm and John are known from other sources.[12]

The origins of the Wallace surname and its association with southwest Scotland are also far from certain, other than the name's being derived from the Old Englishwylisc (pronounced "wullish"), meaning "foreigner" or "Welshman". It is possible that all the Wallaces in the Clyde area were medieval immigrants from Wales, but as the term was also used for local Cumbric-speaking Strathclyde Welsh, it seems equally likely that the surname refers to people who were seen as being "Welsh" due to their Cumbric language.[citation needed]

When Wallace was growing up, King Alexander III ruled Scotland. His reign had seen a period of peace and economic stability. On 19 March 1286, however, Alexander died after falling from his horse.

The heir to the throne was Alexander's granddaughter, Margaret, Maid of Norway. As she was still a child and in Norway, the Scottish lords set up a government of guardians. Margaret fell ill on the voyage to Scotland and died in Orkney on 26 September 1290. The lack of a clear heir led to a period known as the "Great Cause", with several families laying claim to the throne.

With Scotland threatening to descend into civil war, King Edward I of England was invited in by the Scottish nobility to arbitrate. Before the process could begin, he insisted that all of the contenders recognize him as Lord Paramount of Scotland. In early November 1292, at a great feudal court held in the castle at Berwick-upon-Tweed, judgment was given in favour of John Balliol having the strongest claim in law.

Edward proceeded to reverse the rulings of the Scottish Lords and even summoned King John Balliol to stand before the English court as a common plaintiff. John was a weak king, known as "Toom Tabard" or "Empty Coat". John renounced his homage in March 1296 and by the end of the month Edward stormed Berwick-upon-Tweed, sacking the then-Scottish border town. In April, the Scots were defeated at the Battle of Dunbar in East Lothian and by July, Edward had forced John to abdicate. Edward then instructed his officers to receive formal homage from some 1,800 Scottish nobles (many of the rest being prisoners of war at that time).

Silent years prior to the Wars of Independence

Wallace depicted in a children's history book from 1906

Some historians, such as Andrew Fisher, believe Wallace must have had some earlier military experience in order to lead a successful military campaign in 1297. Campaigns like Edward I of England's wars in Wales might have provided a good opportunity for a younger son of a landholder to become a mercenary soldier.[13] Wallace's personal seal bears the archer's insignia,[14] so he may have fought as an archer in Edward's army.

Walter Bower states that Wallace was "a tall man with the body of a giant ... with lengthy flanks ... broad in the hips, with strong arms and legs ... with all his limbs very strong and firm".[15]Blind Harry's Wallace reaches seven feet.[16]

Start of the uprising

Wallace statue by D. W. Stevenson on the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, Edinburgh

The uprising suffered a blow when the nobles submitted to the English at Irvine in July. Wallace and Moray were not involved, and continued their rebellions. Wallace used the Ettrick Forest as a base for raiding, and attacked Wishart's palace at Ancrum. Wallace and Moray met and joined their forces, possibly at the siege of Dundee in early September.[8]

Battle of Stirling Bridge

On 11 September 1297, an army jointly led by Wallace and Andrew Moray won the Battle of Stirling Bridge. Although vastly outnumbered, the Scottish army routed the English army. John de Warenne, 6th Earl of Surrey's feudal army of 3,000 cavalry and 8,000 to 10,000 infantry met disaster as they crossed over to the north side of the river. The narrowness of the bridge prevented many soldiers from crossing together (possibly as few as three men abreast), so, while the English soldiers crossed, the Scots held back until half of them had passed and then killed the English as quickly as they could cross. The infantry were sent on first, followed by heavy cavalry. The Scots' schiltron formations forced the infantry back into the advancing cavalry. A pivotal charge, led by one of Wallace's captains, caused some of the English soldiers to retreat as others pushed forward, and under the overwhelming weight, the bridge collapsed and many English soldiers drowned. Thus, the Scots won a significant victory, boosting the confidence of their army. Hugh Cressingham, Edward's treasurer in Scotland, died in the fighting and it is reputed that his body was subsequently flayed and the skin cut into small pieces as tokens of the victory. The Lanercost Chronicle records that Wallace had "a broad strip [of Cressingham’s skin] ... taken from the head to the heel, to make therewith a baldrick for his sword".[17]

After the battle, Moray and Wallace assumed the title of Guardians of the Kingdom of Scotland on behalf of King John Balliol. Moray died of wounds suffered on the battlefield sometime in late 1297.

The type of engagement conducted by Wallace was characterized by opportunistic tactics and the strategic use of terrain. This was in stark contrast to the contemporary views on chivalric warfare which were characterized by strength of arms and knightly combat. Therefore, the battle embittered relations between the two antagonistic nations, whilst also perhaps providing a new departure in the type of warfare which England had hitherto employed. The numerical and material inferiority of the Scottish forces was later mirrored by that of the English in the Hundred Years' War, who, in turn, abandoned chivalric warfare to achieve decisive victory in similar engagements such as Crécy and Poitiers.

Around November 1297, Wallace led a large-scale raid into northern England, through Northumberland and Cumberland.[8]

Battle of Falkirk

In April 1298, Edward ordered a second invasion of Scotland. Two days prior to the battle 25,781 foot soldiers were paid. More than half of them would have been Welsh. There are no clear cut sources for the presence of cavalry, but it is safe to assume that Edward had roughly 1500 horse under his command.[21] They plundered Lothian and regained some castles, but failed to bring William Wallace to combat; the Scots shadowed the English army, intending to avoid battle until shortages of supplies and money forced Edward to withdraw, at which point the Scots would harass his retreat. The English quartermasters' failure to prepare for the expedition left morale and food supplies low, and a resulting riot within Edward's own army had to be put down by his cavalry. In July, while planning a return to Edinburgh for supplies, Edward received intelligence that the Scots were encamped nearby at Falkirk, and he moved quickly to engage them in the pitched battle he had long hoped for.

Wallace arranged his spearmen in four schiltrons — circular, defensive hedgehog formations, probably surrounded by wooden stakes connected with ropes, to keep the infantry in formation. The English, however, employed Welsh longbowmen, who swung strategic superiority in their favour. The English proceeded to attack with cavalry and put the Scottish archers to flight. The Scottish cavalry withdrew as well, due to its inferiority to the English heavy horse. Edward's men began to attack the schiltrons, which were still able to inflict heavy casualties on the English cavalry. It remains unclear whether the infantry shooting bolts, arrows and stones at the spearmen proved the deciding factor, although it is very likely that it was the arrows of Edward's bowmen. Gaps in the schiltrons soon appeared, and the English exploited these to crush the remaining resistance. The Scots lost many men, including John de Graham. Wallace escaped, though his military reputation suffered badly.

Details of Wallace's activities after this are vague, but there is some evidence that he left on a mission to the court of King Philip IV of France to plead the case for assistance in the Scottish struggle for independence. There is a surviving letter from the French king dated 7 November 1300 to his envoys in Rome demanding that they should help Sir William.[22] It also suggests that Wallace may have intended to travel to Rome, although it is not known if he did.[23] There is also a report from an English spy at a meeting of Scottish leaders, where they said Wallace was in France.[24]

By 1304 Wallace was back in Scotland, and involved in skirmishes at Happrew and Earnside.

Wallace was transported to London, lodged in the house of William de Leyrer, then taken to Westminster Hall, where he was tried for treason and for atrocities against civilians in war, "sparing neither age nor sex, monk nor nun." He was crowned with a garland of oak to suggest he was the king of outlaws. He responded to the treason charge, "I could not be a traitor to Edward, for I was never his subject."[26][27]

In 1869 the Wallace Monument was erected, very close to the site of his victory at Stirling Bridge. The Wallace Sword, which supposedly belonged to Wallace, although some parts were made at least 160 years later, was held for many years in Dumbarton Castle and is now in the Wallace Monument.

Historiography of Wallace

Romanticism in Scotland took up Wallace after Robert Burns wrote in 1793 the ballad 'Scots Wha Hae' and Scottish nationalists commemorated him in the Wallace Monument dedicated in 1869. Although there are problems with writing a satisfactory biography of many medieval people, the problems with Wallace are greater than usual. Not much is known about him beyond his military campaign of 1297–1298, and the last few weeks of his life in 1305. Even in recent years, his birthplace and his father's name have been disputed.

To compound this, the legacy of subsequent 'biographical' accounts, sometimes written as propaganda, other times simply as entertainment, has clouded much scholarship until relatively recent times. Some accounts have uncritically copied elements from the epic poem, The Acts and Deeds of Sir William Wallace, Knight of Elderslie, written around 1470 by Blind Harry the minstrel. Harry wrote from oral tradition describing events 170 years earlier, and is not in any sense an authoritative descriptor of Wallace's exploits. Much of the poem is clearly at variance with known historical facts and records of the period and is either fabricated using traditional chivalric motifs or 'borrowed' from the exploits of others and attributed to Wallace.[29]

In popular culture

Film

A well-known account of Wallace's life is presented in the film Braveheart (1995), directed by and starring Mel Gibson as Wallace, written by Randall Wallace, and filmed in Scotland and Ireland. The film was criticised for inaccuracies regarding Wallace's title, love interests, and attire.[30]

Literature

In the early 19th century, Walter Scott wrote of Wallace in Exploits and Death of William Wallace, the "Hero of Scotland".[31]

Jane Porter penned a romantic version of the Wallace legend in The Scottish Chiefs (1810).

1.
Guardian of Scotland
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The Guardians of Scotland were the de facto heads of state of Scotland during the First Interregnum of 1290–1292, and the Second Interregnum of 1296–1306. Guillaume de Seint Andreu et Robert de Glasgu evesques, Johan Comyn et James Seneschal de Escoce, English translation, William of St Andrews and Robert of Glasgow bishops, John Comyn and James the Steward of Scotland, guardians of the kingdom of Scotland. The Guardians during the minority and reign of David II were, Sir Thomas Randolph, 1st Earl of Moray, donald, Earl of Mar Sir Andrew Moray of Bothwell until captured by the English. Sir Archibald Douglas Sir Andrew Moray of Bothwell for the second time Robert the Steward, nephew to David and future king of Scotland. Robert was guardian on four occasions, sometimes jointly, and latterly twice during the years of the kings enforced absence as a prisoner in England after the Battle of Nevilles Cross. He used these years to build a power base in the country. Competitors for the crown of Scotland History of Scotland Politics of Scotland Mack, James Logan

2.
John Balliol
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John Balliol, known derisively as Toom Tabard was King of Scots from 1292 to 1296. Little is known of his early life, after the death of Margaret, Maid of Norway, Scotland entered an interregnum during which several competitors for the Crown of Scotland put forward claims. Balliol was chosen from them as the new King of Scotland by a group of selected noblemen headed by King Edward I of England. Edward used his influence over the process to subjugate Scotland and undermined Balliols personal reign by treating Scotland as a vassal of England, edwards influence in Scottish affairs tainted Balliols reign and the Scottish nobility deposed him and appointed a council of twelve to rule instead. This council signed a treaty with France known as the Auld Alliance, in retaliation, Edward invaded Scotland, starting the Wars of Scottish Independence. After a Scottish defeat in 1296, Balliol abdicated and was imprisoned in the Tower of London, eventually, Balliol was sent to France, and retired into obscurity, taking no more place in politics. Scotland was then left without a monarch until Robert the Bruce ascended in 1306, John Balliols son Edward Balliol would later exert a claim to the Scottish throne against the Bruce claim during the minority of Roberts son David. In Norman French his name was Johan de Bailliol, in Middle Scots it was Jhon Ballioun, in Scots he was known by the nickname Toom Tabard, usually understood to mean empty coat, with the word coat referring to coat of arms. Little of Balliols early life is known and he was born between 1248 and 1250 at an unknown location, possibilities include Galloway, Picardy and Barnard Castle, County Durham. He was the son of John, 5th Baron Balliol, Lord of Barnard Castle, in 1284 Balliol had attended a parliament at Scone, which had recognised Margaret, Maid of Norway, as heir presumptive to her grandfather, King Alexander III. He submitted his claim to the Scottish auditors with King Edward I of England as the arbitrator, Edward I, who had coerced recognition as Lord Paramount of Scotland, the feudal superior of the realm, steadily undermined Johns authority. He treated Scotland as a vassal state and repeatedly humiliated the new king. They went on to conclude a treaty of assistance with France – known in later years as the Auld Alliance. In retaliation, Edward I invaded, commencing the Wars of Scottish Independence, the Scots were defeated at Dunbar and the English took Dunbar Castle on 27 April 1296. John abdicated at Stracathro near Montrose on 10 July 1296, here the arms of Scotland were formally torn from Johns surcoat, giving him the abiding name of Toom Tabard. John was imprisoned in the Tower of London until allowed to go to France in July 1299. When his baggage was examined at Dover, the Royal Golden Crown and Seal of the Kingdom of Scotland, with vessels of gold and silver. Edward I ordered that the Crown be offered to St. Thomas the Martyr, but he kept the Seal himself

3.
List of Scottish monarchs
–
The monarch of Scotland was the head of state of the Kingdom of Scotland. According to tradition, the first King of Scots was Kenneth MacAlpin, the distinction between the Kingdom of Scotland and the Kingdom of the Picts is rather the product of later medieval myth and confusion from a change in nomenclature i. e. The Kingdom of the Picts just became known as Kingdom of Alba in Gaelic, which became known in Scots and English as Scotland. By the late 11th century at the very latest, Scottish kings were using the term rex Scottorum, or King of Scots, to refer to themselves in Latin. The title of King of Scots fell out of use in 1707, thus Queen Anne became the last monarch of the ancient kingdoms of Scotland and England and the first of Great Britain, although the kingdoms had shared a monarch since 1603. Her uncle Charles II was the last Scottish monarch actually to be crowned in Scotland, the reign of Kenneth MacAlpin begins what is often called the House of Alpin, an entirely modern concept. * Evidence for Eochaids reign is unclear, he may never have actually been King, if he was, he was co-King with Giric. † Eochiad was a son of Run, King of Strathclyde and he was also the heir-general of Malcolm I, as his paternal grandfather, Duncan of Atholl was the third son of Malcolm I. The House of Dunkeld was therefore related to the House of Alpin. Duncan was killed in battle by Macbeth, who had a long, in a series of battles between 1057 and 1058, Duncans son Malcolm III defeated and killed Macbeth and Macbeths stepson and heir Lulach, and claimed the throne. Edgar triumphed, sending his uncle and brother to monasteries, after the reign of David I, the Scottish throne was passed according to rules of primogeniture, moving from father to son, or where not possible, brother to brother. The last King of the House of Dunkeld was Alexander III, Alexander had himself remarried, but in early 1286 he died in an accident while riding home. His wife, Yolande of Dreux, was pregnant, but by November 1286 all hope of her bearing a child had passed. Accordingly, in the Treaty of Salisbury, the Guardians of Scotland recognised Alexanders three-year-old granddaughter, Margaret of Norway, Margaret remained in her fathers Kingdom of Norway until Autumn 1290, when she was dispatched to Scotland. However, she died on the journey in Orkney, having never set foot on Scottish soil and she is thus sometimes not considered Queen by nationalists. The death of Margaret of Norway began an interregnum in Scotland caused by a succession crisis. With her death, the descent of William I became extinct, the Scottish Magnates invited Edward I of England to arbitrate the claims, he did so, but forced the Scots to swear allegiance to him as overlord. For ten years, Scotland had no King of its own, the Scots, however, refused to tolerate English rule, first William Wallace and then, after his execution, Robert the Bruce fought against the English

4.
Robert the Bruce
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Robert I, popularly known as Robert the Bruce, was King of Scots from 1306 until his death in 1329. Robert was one of the most famous warriors of his generation and he fought successfully during his reign to regain Scotlands place as an independent country and is today revered in Scotland as a national hero. As Earl of Carrick, Robert the Bruce supported his familys claim to the Scottish throne, after submitting to Edward I in 1302 and returning to the kings peace, Robert inherited his familys claim to the Scottish throne upon his fathers death. In February 1306, Robert the Bruce killed Comyn following an argument, Bruce moved quickly to seize the throne and was crowned king of Scots on 25 March 1306. Bruce defeated his other Scots enemies, destroying their strongholds and devastating their lands, despite Bannockburn and the capture of the final English stronghold at Berwick in 1318, Edward II refused to renounce his claim to the overlordship of Scotland. In 1320, the Scottish nobility submitted the Declaration of Arbroath to Pope John XXII, declaring Robert as their rightful monarch and asserting Scotlands status as an independent kingdom. In 1324, the Pope recognised Robert I as king of an independent Scotland, and in 1326, Robert I died in June 1329. His body is buried in Dunfermline Abbey, while his heart was interred in Melrose Abbey. Robert de Brus, 1st Lord of Annandale, the first of the Bruce, or de Brus, line arrived in Scotland with David I in 1124 and was given the lands of Annandale in Dumfries and Galloway. His mother was by all accounts a formidable woman who, legend would have it, from his mother, he inherited the Earldom of Carrick, and through his father, a royal lineage that would give him a claim to the Scottish throne. The Bruces also held estates in Aberdeenshire, County Antrim, County Durham, Essex, Middlesex. Although Robert the Bruces date of birth is known, his place of birth is less certain, although it is most likely to have been Turnberry Castle in Ayrshire, very little is known of his youth. Annandale was thoroughly feudalised and the form of Northern Middle English that would develop into the Scots language was spoken throughout the region. Robert the Bruce would most probably have become trilingual at an early age and he would have been schooled to speak, read and possibly write in the Anglo-Norman language of his Scots-Norman peers and his fathers family. He would also have both the Gaelic language of his Carrick birthplace and his mothers family, and the early Scots language. As the heir to an estate and a pious layman, Robert would also have been given working knowledge of Latin. This would have afforded Robert and his brothers access to education in the law, politics, scripture, saints Lives, philosophy, history and chivalric instruction. That Robert took personal pleasure in such learning and leisure is suggested in a number of ways, as king, Robert certainly commissioned verse to commemorate Bannockburn and his subjects military deeds

5.
John III Comyn, Lord of Badenoch
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He is best known for having been stabbed to death by Robert the Bruce before the altar at the church of the Greyfriars at Dumfries. His father, John II Comyn, Lord of Badenoch, known as the Black Comyn, was one of the Competitors for the Crown of Scotland and his mother was Eleanor Balliol, eldest daughter of John I de Balliol, father of King John Balliol. The Red Comyn might thus be said to have combined two lines of descent, Gaelic and Norman. He had, moreover, links with the house of England, in the early 1290s he married Joan de Valence, daughter of William de Valence, 1st Earl of Pembroke. Of Norman-French origin, the family first made an appearance in Scotland during the reign of David I, in the thirteenth century they acquired the lordship of Badenoch, with extensive landholdings also in Lochaber, as well as the earldom of Buchan. On the death of Alexander III, John Comyns father was appointed to the panel of Guardians to await the arrival of the infant Maid of Norway, the Comyns were the principal supporters of King John even after he was deposed by Edward I in 1296. As such they were foremost among the enemies of the house of Bruce, the Wars of Scottish Independence thus began in a clash between the Bruces and Comyns. Having no siege equipment, the Comyns drew off and subsequently joined the main Scottish host at Haddington, on 27 April the Scots were overwhelmed at the Battle of Dunbar, with John being among the many prisoners taken. While his father and cousin retreated north in the company of King John, he was sent south, while there he learned of the rising of William Wallace and Andrew Moray and their victory over the English at the Battle of Stirling Bridge. In March 1298 John was among Scots who deserted from the English, finally ending up in Paris, the only help they managed to get was a ship back to Scotland, arriving before the summer. Earlier that year William Wallace had emerged as Guardian, Moray having died at Stirling or shortly after, the main task facing the Guardian was to gather a national army to meet an invasion by Edward, anxious to reverse the victory of Stirling Bridge. For cavalry, by far the weakest element of the Scottish host, Wallace depended on the Comyns, on 22 July Wallaces army was destroyed at the Battle of Falkirk, the light horse being driven off at an early stage by the heavy English cavalry. It is possible that John Comyn was present at the battle and this is set alongside a commendation of Robert the Bruce, who, in Forduns account, fought on the side of the English and was the means of bringing about the victory. The contemporary English record of the Lanercost Chronicle simply blames the inadequacy of the Scottish cavalry in general, soon after the defeat, John Comyn and Robert the Bruce were named as joint Guardians of the Realm in place of Wallace. With no independent power base Wallace, whose prestige had always been based on the success of his army, had little choice, in his place an unusual and difficult balancing act, John Comyn and Robert the Bruce, who had now joined the patriot party. The Scots were still fighting on behalf of the absent King John, so Bruce must have paid lip service to the cause, the records give little or nothing in the way of insight into the feelings and motives of these men. At a meeting of a council of the magnates at Peebles in August 1299 an argument broke out relative to the property of Wallace, Comyn is said to have seized Bruce by the throat. William Lamberton, Bishop of St. Andrews, was appointed as a third Guardian, Lamberton was a personal friend of both Wallace and Bruce

6.
Elderslie
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Elderslie is a village in the council area and historic county of Renfrewshire in west central Scotland. The village is situated midway between the towns of Paisley and Johnstone. Elderslie is disputed as the birthplace of Sir William Wallace, a knight born around 1270 who served as a leader in the Wars of Scottish Independence before being captured and executed. It was presumed that Wallace was the son of Sir Malcolm Wallace of Elderslie, the basis for this was a poem written 150 years after the time of Wallace by a minstrel called Blind Harry. Examination of the seal which was sent on a letter to Lubeck after the battle of Stirling Bridge named Wallaces real father as Allan Wallace, the firm also produced carpets for Queen Elizabeth IIs wedding in Westminster Abbey, the ocean liner RMS Titanic and for the Concorde aircraft. A remaining example of the work which was carried out here can be seen in the carpet which covers the floor of the drawing room in Culzean Castle designed by Robert Adam. Today, Elderslie chiefly serves as a village for nearby urban settlements, most notably Paisley. The area has settled since prehistoric times as evidenced by the cup. The stream running through the village is officially the Old Patrick Water, the villages name translates into the Scottish Gaelic language as Ach na Feàrna. It is assumed that William Wallace was born and grew up in Elderslie, on the site of the ancient Elderslie Castle where there are now information boards, there now stands a monument to commemorate his life. As late as the 1970s remains of the buildings on this site still stood with roofs intact although it is doubtful how much of that existed in the time of Wallace. Auchenbathie Tower a few miles to the south is a associated with William Wallace in an action against the English. The Elderslie myth about Sir William Wallaces birthplace has come about because of name confusion and it is reasonably well documented that the Wallace lands were in Ayrshire and seems to connect the Wallace family to lands at Ellerslie near Riccarton, now a suburb of Kilmarnock, Ayrshire. It is easy to see why later balladeers and historians became confused between the little-known Ellerslie and the widely known Elderslie. There is one state primary school in Elderslie, Wallace Primary School, which is a feeder school for Castlehead High School. Wallace Primary and Castlehead High work very closely together to ensure the transfer from primary to secondary school is as seamless as possible, Elderslie was once divided between two parishes of the established Church of Scotland, Elderslie West and Elderslie East, which amalgamated around 1977. Worshippers now meet in the former West church, renamed Elderslie Kirk, there is a golf club called Elderslie Golf Club and a bowling club. The village had a pool located at Stoddart Square for many years

7.
Renfrewshire
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Renfrewshire is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It also shares borders with Glasgow, North Ayrshire and West Dunbartonshire, Renfrewshire borders the south-west of Glasgow, lying on the south bank of the River Clyde, and contains many of Glasgows commuter towns and villages, as well as rural areas. Present day Renfrewshire borders the south-west of Glasgow and contains many of Glasgows commuter towns, Renfrewshire also has boundaries with North Ayrshire, East Renfrewshire, Inverclyde and West Dunbartonshire. The ancient county of Renfrewshire covered a larger area — including both Inverclyde and East Renfrewshire and this area still exists in the form of a lieutenancy area and registration county, and has a statutory funding board called the Renfrewshire Valuation Joint Board. The county was based around its seat, the Royal Burgh of Renfrew. There was also a district named Renfrew which existed between 1975 and 1996, Renfrewshire Council is the elected local authority for Renfrewshire, which is one of 32 local council areas in Scotland. The council is based at Renfrewshire House in Paisley, Renfrewshire Council recently won more awards than any other council in Scotland at the CoSLA Awards ceremony—winning three gold awards with a further three silver awards. This is the highest number of awards won by a single Scottish council since CoSLA started handing out its awards. Renfrewshire Council is administered by the Scottish Labour Party, the Provost of Renfrewshire is Anne Hall. Each department is headed by a Director, who is also an apolitical, as of 4 May 2012, the composition of the council is as follows, As such, the election resulted in the Scottish Labour Party gaining full control of the Renfrewshire Council. There was no party in control of Renfrewshire Council so therefore a Scottish National Party/Scottish Liberal Democrats coalition was formed to run the council for that four-year period. The electoral system of councils in Scotland is governed by the Local Governance Act 2004. Renfrewshire is represented by three constituencies in the Scottish Parliament, Renfrewshire North and West, Paisley and Renfrewshire South, the two constituencies covering Renfrewshire in the Westminster Parliament are Paisley and Renfrewshire North and Paisley and Renfrewshire South. The constituencies are represented by Gavin Newlands and Mhairi Black respectively and it is served by the M8 motorway, which terminates in the area, just east of Langbank, and is a major artery between northwest and southwest Scotland, via the Erskine Bridge. The presence of the airport and the proximity to Glasgow means that Renfrewshire supports one of the busiest transport infrastructures in Scotland, and is frequently congested. Renfrewshire also has bus links provided by, Mcgills Bus Services. The Braehead Arena in Renfrewshire close to the boundary with Glasgow is home to leading professional team, the Scottish Rocks. The arena was also host to the 2000 Ford World Curling Championships, Renfrewshire has 11 secondary schools,51 primary schools and 3 schools for children with additional support needs

8.
Scotland
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Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and covers the northern third of the island of Great Britain. It shares a border with England to the south, and is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, with the North Sea to the east. In addition to the mainland, the country is made up of more than 790 islands, including the Northern Isles, the Kingdom of Scotland emerged as an independent sovereign state in the Early Middle Ages and continued to exist until 1707. By inheritance in 1603, James VI, King of Scots, became King of England and King of Ireland, Scotland subsequently entered into a political union with the Kingdom of England on 1 May 1707 to create the new Kingdom of Great Britain. The union also created a new Parliament of Great Britain, which succeeded both the Parliament of Scotland and the Parliament of England. Within Scotland, the monarchy of the United Kingdom has continued to use a variety of styles, titles, the legal system within Scotland has also remained separate from those of England and Wales and Northern Ireland, Scotland constitutes a distinct jurisdiction in both public and private law. Glasgow, Scotlands largest city, was one of the worlds leading industrial cities. Other major urban areas are Aberdeen and Dundee, Scottish waters consist of a large sector of the North Atlantic and the North Sea, containing the largest oil reserves in the European Union. This has given Aberdeen, the third-largest city in Scotland, the title of Europes oil capital, following a referendum in 1997, a Scottish Parliament was re-established, in the form of a devolved unicameral legislature comprising 129 members, having authority over many areas of domestic policy. Scotland is represented in the UK Parliament by 59 MPs and in the European Parliament by 6 MEPs, Scotland is also a member nation of the British–Irish Council, and the British–Irish Parliamentary Assembly. Scotland comes from Scoti, the Latin name for the Gaels, the Late Latin word Scotia was initially used to refer to Ireland. By the 11th century at the latest, Scotia was being used to refer to Scotland north of the River Forth, alongside Albania or Albany, the use of the words Scots and Scotland to encompass all of what is now Scotland became common in the Late Middle Ages. Repeated glaciations, which covered the land mass of modern Scotland. It is believed the first post-glacial groups of hunter-gatherers arrived in Scotland around 12,800 years ago, the groups of settlers began building the first known permanent houses on Scottish soil around 9,500 years ago, and the first villages around 6,000 years ago. The well-preserved village of Skara Brae on the mainland of Orkney dates from this period and it contains the remains of an early Bronze Age ruler laid out on white quartz pebbles and birch bark. It was also discovered for the first time that early Bronze Age people placed flowers in their graves, in the winter of 1850, a severe storm hit Scotland, causing widespread damage and over 200 deaths. In the Bay of Skaill, the storm stripped the earth from a large irregular knoll, when the storm cleared, local villagers found the outline of a village, consisting of a number of small houses without roofs. William Watt of Skaill, the laird, began an amateur excavation of the site, but after uncovering four houses

9.
Smithfield, London
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Smithfield is a locality in the ward of Farringdon Without situated at the City of Londons northwest in central London, England. The principal street of the area is West Smithfield, the area also contains Londons oldest surviving church, St Bartholomew-the-Great, founded in 1123 AD. Some of its original market premises fell into disuse in the late 20th century, the Corporation of Londons public enquiry in 2012 drew widespread support for an urban regeneration plan intent upon preserving Smithfields historical identity. In the Middle Ages, it was a grassy area known as Smooth Field. Given its ease of access to grazing and water, Smithfield established itself as Londons livestock market, remaining so for almost 1,000 years. In 1123, the area near Aldersgate was granted by King Henry I for the foundation of St Bartholomews Priory at the request of Prior Rahere in thanks for his being nursed back to good health. The Priory exercised its right to land between Aldersgate, Long Lane and modern-day Newgate Street, erecting its main western gate which opened onto Smithfield. The Priory thereafter held the rights to hold weekly fairs. A trading event for cloth and other goods as well as being a pleasure forum, in 1855, however, Bartholomew Fair was closed down by the City authorities after degenerating into a magnet for debauchery and public disorder. A chapel and hermitage were constructed, renamed New Church Haw, but in 1371, later Augustinian canonesses established the Priory of St Mary, north of the Knights of St John property. By the end of the 14th century, these houses were regarded by City traders as interlopers — occupying what had previously been public open space nearby one of the City gates. On numerous occasions vandals damaged the Charterhouse, eventually demolishing its buildings, by 1405, a stout wall was built to protect the property and maintain the privacy of the Order, particularly its church where men and women alike came to worship. The religious houses were dissolved in the Reformation, and their lands broken up, the Priory Church of St John remains, as does St Johns Gate, traditionally regarded as the boundary between Smithfield and Clerkenwell. John Houghton, Prior of Charterhouse, went to Thomas Cromwell accompanied by two other local priors seeking an oath of supremacy that would be acceptable to their communities. This resulted in their being flung into the Tower of London, on 29 May, the remaining twenty monks and eighteen lay brothers were forced to swear the oath of allegiance, the ten who refused were taken to Newgate Prison and left to starve. Until 1899 Charterhouse was extra-parochial, when it became a civil parish incorporated in the Metropolitan Borough of Finsbury, from its inception, the Priory of St Bartholomew treated the sick. Letters Patent were presented to the City, granting property and income to the new foundation the following month, the Priorys principal church, St Bartholomew-the-Great, was reconfigured after the dissolution of the monasteries losing the western third of its nave. Reformed as an Anglican parish church, its boundaries were limited to the site of the ancient priory

10.
England
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England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west, the Irish Sea lies northwest of England and the Celtic Sea lies to the southwest. England is separated from continental Europe by the North Sea to the east, the country covers five-eighths of the island of Great Britain in its centre and south, and includes over 100 smaller islands such as the Isles of Scilly, and the Isle of Wight. England became a state in the 10th century, and since the Age of Discovery. The Industrial Revolution began in 18th-century England, transforming its society into the worlds first industrialised nation, Englands terrain mostly comprises low hills and plains, especially in central and southern England. However, there are uplands in the north and in the southwest, the capital is London, which is the largest metropolitan area in both the United Kingdom and the European Union. In 1801, Great Britain was united with the Kingdom of Ireland through another Act of Union to become the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. In 1922 the Irish Free State seceded from the United Kingdom, leading to the latter being renamed the United Kingdom of Great Britain, the name England is derived from the Old English name Englaland, which means land of the Angles. The Angles were one of the Germanic tribes that settled in Great Britain during the Early Middle Ages, the Angles came from the Angeln peninsula in the Bay of Kiel area of the Baltic Sea. The earliest recorded use of the term, as Engla londe, is in the ninth century translation into Old English of Bedes Ecclesiastical History of the English People. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, its spelling was first used in 1538. The earliest attested reference to the Angles occurs in the 1st-century work by Tacitus, Germania, the etymology of the tribal name itself is disputed by scholars, it has been suggested that it derives from the shape of the Angeln peninsula, an angular shape. An alternative name for England is Albion, the name Albion originally referred to the entire island of Great Britain. The nominally earliest record of the name appears in the Aristotelian Corpus, specifically the 4th century BC De Mundo, in it are two very large islands called Britannia, these are Albion and Ierne. But modern scholarly consensus ascribes De Mundo not to Aristotle but to Pseudo-Aristotle, the word Albion or insula Albionum has two possible origins. Albion is now applied to England in a poetic capacity. Another romantic name for England is Loegria, related to the Welsh word for England, Lloegr, the earliest known evidence of human presence in the area now known as England was that of Homo antecessor, dating to approximately 780,000 years ago. The oldest proto-human bones discovered in England date from 500,000 years ago, Modern humans are known to have inhabited the area during the Upper Paleolithic period, though permanent settlements were only established within the last 6,000 years

11.
Hanged, drawn and quartered
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To be hanged, drawn and quartered was from 1351 a statutory penalty in England for men convicted of high treason, although the ritual was first recorded during the reign of King Henry III. Convicts were fastened to a hurdle, or wooden panel, and drawn by horse to the place of execution and their remains were often displayed in prominent places across the country, such as London Bridge. For reasons of public decency, women convicted of treason were instead burned at the stake. The severity of the sentence was measured against the seriousness of the crime and they included many English Catholic priests executed during the Elizabethan era, and several of the regicides involved in the 1649 execution of Charles I. The death penalty for treason was abolished in 1998, during the High Middle Ages those in England guilty of treason were punished in a variety of ways, including drawing and hanging. In the 13th century other, more brutal penalties were introduced, the 13th-century English chronicler Matthew Paris described how in 1238 a certain man at arms, a man of some education attempted to kill King Henry III. He was apparently sent by William de Marisco, an outlaw who some years earlier had killed a man under royal protection before fleeing to Lundy Island, de Marisco was captured in 1242 and on Henrys order dragged from Westminster to the Tower of London to be executed. There he was hanged from a gibbet until dead and his corpse was disembowelled, his entrails burned, his body quartered and the parts distributed to cities across the country. The punishment is more frequently recorded during Edward Is reign, welshman Dafydd ap Gruffydd became the first nobleman in England to be hanged, drawn and quartered after he turned against the king and proclaimed himself Prince of Wales and Lord of Snowdon. Dafydds rebellion infuriated Edward so much that he demanded a novel punishment, therefore, following his capture and trial in 1283, for his betrayal he was drawn by horse to his place of execution. For killing English nobles he was hanged alive, for killing those nobles at Easter he was eviscerated and his entrails burned. For conspiring to kill the king in parts of the realm, his body was quartered. A similar fate was suffered by the Scottish leader Sir William Wallace, captured and tried in 1305, he was forced to wear a crown of laurel leaves and was drawn to Smithfield, where he was hanged and beheaded. His entrails were then burned and his corpse quartered and his head was set on London Bridge and the quarters sent to Newcastle, Berwick, Stirling and Perth. Treason was based on an allegiance to the sovereign from all subjects aged 14 or over and it remained for the king, Edward therefore introduced the Treason Act 1351. It was enacted at a time in English history when a right to rule was indisputable and was therefore written principally to protect the throne. The new law offered a definition of treason than had existed before. Petty treason referred to the killing of a master by his servant, men guilty of petty treason were drawn and hanged, whereas women were burned

12.
Kingdom of Scotland
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The Kingdom of Scotland was a state in northwest Europe traditionally said to have been founded in 843, which joined with the Kingdom of England to form a unified Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. Its territories expanded and shrank, but it came to occupy the third of the island of Great Britain. It suffered many invasions by the English, but under Robert I it fought a war of independence. In 1603, James VI of Scotland became King of England, in 1707, the two kingdoms were united to form the Kingdom of Great Britain under the terms of the Acts of Union. The Crown was the most important element of government, the Scottish monarchy in the Middle Ages was a largely itinerant institution, before Edinburgh developed as a capital city in the second half of the 15th century. The Scottish Crown adopted the conventional offices of western European courts, Parliament also emerged as a major legal institution, gaining an oversight of taxation and policy, but was never as central to the national life as its counterpart in England. In the 17th century, the creation of Justices of Peace, the continued existence of courts baron and the introduction of kirk sessions helped consolidate the power of local lairds. Scots law developed into a system in the Middle Ages and was reformed and codified in the 16th and 17th centuries. Under James IV the legal functions of the council were rationalised, in 1532, the College of Justice was founded, leading to the training and professionalisation of lawyers. David I is the first Scottish king known to have produced his own coinage, Early Scottish coins were virtually identical in silver content to English ones, but from about 1300 their silver content began to depreciate more rapidly than the English coins. At the union of the Crowns in 1603 the Scottish pound was fixed at only one-twelfth the value of the English pound, the Bank of Scotland issued pound notes from 1704. Scottish currency was abolished by the Act of Union, Scotland is half the size of England and Wales in area, but has roughly the same length of coastline. Geographically Scotland is divided between the Highlands and Islands and the Lowlands, the Highlands had a relatively short growing season, which was further shortened during the Little Ice Age. From Scotlands foundation to the inception of the Black Death, the population had grown to a million, following the plague and it expanded in the first half of the 16th century, reaching roughly 1.2 million by the 1690s. Significant languages in the kingdom included Gaelic, Old English, Norse and French. Christianity was introduced into Scotland from the 6th century, in the Norman period the Scottish church underwent a series of changes that led to new monastic orders and organisation. During the 16th century, Scotland underwent a Protestant Reformation that created a predominately Calvinist national kirk, there were a series of religious controversies that resulted in divisions and persecutions. The Scottish Crown developed naval forces at various points in its history, Land forces centred around the large common army, but adopted European innovations from the 16th century, and many Scots took service as mercenaries and as soldiers for the English Crown

13.
First War of Scottish Independence
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De facto independence was established in 1314 at the Battle of Bannockburn. England attempted to establish its authority over Scotland while the Scots fought to keep English rule, when King Alexander III ruled Scotland, his reign had seen a period of peace and economic stability. On 19 March 1286, however, Alexander died after falling from his horse, the heir to the throne was Alexanders granddaughter, Margaret, Maid of Norway. As she was still a child and in Norway, the Scottish lords set up a government of guardians, Margaret fell ill on the voyage to Scotland and died in Orkney on 26 September 1290. The lack of a clear heir led to a known as the Great Cause. With Scotland threatening to descend into civil war, King Edward I of England was invited in by the Scottish nobility to arbitrate, before the process could begin, he insisted that all of the contenders recognise him as Lord Paramount of Scotland. In early November 1292, at a great feudal court held in the castle at Berwick-upon-Tweed, Edward proceeded to reverse the rulings of the Scottish Lords and even summoned King John Balliol to stand before the English court as a common plaintiff. John was a king, known as Toom Tabard or Empty Coat. John renounced his homage in March 1296 and by the end of the month Edward stormed Berwick-upon-Tweed, in April, the Scots were defeated at the Battle of Dunbar in East Lothian and by July, Edward had forced John to abdicate. Edward then instructed his officers to receive homage from some 1,800 Scottish nobles. Throughout Scotland, there was discontent and disorder after the dominion exercised by the English Crown. In 1297, the country erupted in revolt, and Andrew de Moray. Andrew de Moray was the son of a landowner, Sir Andrew de Moray of Petty. Andrew and his father were both captured in the rout after the Battle of Dunbar in April 1296, Andrew the younger was initially held captive in Chester Castle on the Anglo-Welsh border, from which he escaped during the winter of 1296-97. He returned to his fathers castle at Avoch on the shore of the Moray Firth. Moray quickly gathered a band of like-minded patriots, and employing hit-and-run guerrilla tactics, began to attack and devastate every English-garrisoned castle from Banff to Inverness. The entire province of Moray was soon in revolt against King Edward Is men, and before long Moray had secured Moray, leaving him free to turn his attention to the rest of the northeast of Scotland. Wallace rose to prominence in May 1297, when he killed Sir William Haselrig, the English sheriff of Lanark, when news of Wallaces latest attack on the English rippled throughout Scotland, men rallied to him

14.
Battle of Stirling Bridge
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The Battle of Stirling Bridge was a battle of the First War of Scottish Independence. The Earl of Surrey had won a victory over the aristocracy of Scotland at the Battle of Dunbar, however, by August 1297 Moray and Wallace controlled almost all of Scotland north of the Forth, except for Dundee. Surrey marched north with an army from Berwick to relieve Dundee, the town of Stirling was the key entry point to the north of Scotland. The earl arrived at the narrow, wooden bridge over the River Forth near Stirling Castle, so he delayed crossing for several days to allow for negotiations, and to reconnoiter the area. On 10 September Warenne gave orders to cross the river the next day, at dawn the English and Welsh infantry started to cross only to be recalled due to the fact that Warenne had overslept. The Scots arrived first and encamped on Abbey Craig which dominated the soft, the English force of English, Welsh and Scots knights, bowmen and foot soldiers camped to the south of the river. Hugh Cressingham, King Edwards treasurer in Scotland, persuaded the Earl to reject this advice, the Scots waited as the English knights and infantry made their slow progress across the bridge on the morning of 11 September. It would have several hours for the entire English army to cross. Wallace and Moray waited, according to the Chronicle of Hemingburgh, when a substantial number of the troops had crossed the attack was ordered. The Scots spearmen came down from the ground in rapid advance. They gained control of the east side of the bridge, caught on the low ground in the loop of the river with no chance of relief or of retreat, most of the outnumbered English on the east side were probably killed. A few hundred may have escaped by swimming across the river, Surrey, who was left with a pitiful contingent of archers, had remained to the south of the river and was still in a strong position. The bulk of his army remained intact and he could have held the line of the Forth, denying the triumphant Scots a passage to the south, but his confidence was gone. James Stewart, the High Steward of Scotland, and Malcolm, Earl of Lennox, whose forces had been part of Surreys army, observing the carnage to the north of the bridge, withdrew. Then the English supply train was attacked at The Pows, a marshy area, by James Stewart. The location of Stirling Bridge at the date of the battle is believed to lie about 180 yards upstream from the 15th century stone that still crosses the river today. Four stone piers have been found underwater just north and at an angle to the extant 15th-century bridge, along with man-made stonework on one bank in line with the piers. The site of the fighting was along either side of a causeway leading from the Abbey Craig, atop which the Wallace Monument is now located

15.
Battle of Falkirk
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The Battle of Falkirk, which took place on 22 July 1298, was one of the major battles in the First War of Scottish Independence. Led by King Edward I of England, the English army defeated the Scots, shortly after the battle Wallace resigned as Guardian of Scotland. King Edward learned of the defeat of his army at the Battle of Stirling Bridge. As a preliminary step he moved the centre of government to York, a council-of-war was held in the city in April to finalise the details of the invasion. The Scottish magnates were all summoned to attend, and when none appeared they were all declared to be traitors, Edward then ordered his army to assemble at Roxburgh on 25 June. Edwards own supply fleet was delayed by bad weather, and when the army reached central Scotland it was tired and hungry. The Welsh infantry in particular were badly demoralised, while the army was encamped at Temple Liston, near Edinburgh, they erupted in a drunken riot that was broken up by the English cavalry, who killed 80 Welshmen. Edward faced the prospect of the kind of retreat that became a regular feature of his sons campaigns in the succeeding reign. Edward was delighted, As God lives and they need not pursue me, for I will meet them this day. The Scots army, again made up chiefly of spearmen as at Stirling, was arranged in four great armoured hedgehogs known as schiltrons, the long spears pointed outwards at various heights gave these formations a formidable and impenetrable appearance. The gaps between the schiltrons were filled with archers and to the rear there was a troop of men-at-arms, provided by the Comyns. On Tuesday 22 July, the English cavalry, divided into four battalions, the left was commanded by the Earls of Norfolk, Hereford and Lincoln. The right was under the command of Antony Bek, Bishop of Durham, while the King commanded the centre, in a disorganised pell-mell the cavalry finally closed on the Scots, on the right and left. The party of men-at-arms under John Comyn left the field immediately, the Scots bowmen commanded by Sir John Stewart of Bonkill, the younger brother of the High Steward of Scotland, stood their ground and were quickly destroyed. But the schiltrons held firm, with the knights making little impression on the dense forest of long spears, King Edward arrived in time to witness the discomfiture of his cavalry and quickly restored discipline. The knights were ordered to withdraw and Edward prepared to employ the tactics that the Earl of Warwick had used to defeat the Welsh spearmen at the Battle of Maes Moydog in 1295. The Scottish cavalry charged the English cavalry, but seeing the vast numbers that were formed against them they then fled the field, Edwards longbowmen were brought into place and quickly overcame the inexperienced force of badly armed Scottish archers. The schiltrons were a target, they had no defence

16.
Scottish Gaelic
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Scottish Gaelic or Scots Gaelic, sometimes also referred to as Gaelic, is a Celtic language native to Scotland. A member of the Goidelic branch of the Celtic languages, Scottish Gaelic, like Modern Irish and Manx, developed out of Middle Irish. The 2011 census of Scotland showed that a total of 57,375 people in Scotland could speak Gaelic at that time, the census results indicate a decline of 1,275 Gaelic speakers from 2001. A total of 87,056 people in 2011 reported having some facility with Gaelic compared to 93,282 people in 2001, only about half of speakers were fully literate in the language. Nevertheless, revival efforts exist and the number of speakers of the language under age 20 has increased, Scottish Gaelic is neither an official language of the European Union nor the United Kingdom. Outside Scotland, a group of dialects collectively known as Canadian Gaelic are spoken in parts of Atlantic Canada, mainly Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. In the 2011 census, there were 7,195 total speakers of Gaelic languages in Canada, with 1,365 in Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island where the responses mainly refer to Scottish Gaelic. About 2,320 Canadians in 2011 also claimed Gaelic languages as their mother tongue, with over 300 in Nova Scotia, aside from Scottish Gaelic, the language may also be referred to simply as Gaelic. In Scotland, the word Gaelic in reference to Scottish Gaelic specifically is pronounced, outside Ireland and Great Britain, Gaelic may refer to the Irish language. Scottish Gaelic should not be confused with Scots, the Middle English-derived language varieties which had come to be spoken in most of the Lowlands of Scotland by the modern era. Prior to the 15th century, these dialects were known as Inglis by its own speakers, from the late 15th century, however, it became increasingly common for such speakers to refer to Scottish Gaelic as Erse and the Lowland vernacular as Scottis. Today, Scottish Gaelic is recognised as a language from Irish. Gaelic in Scotland was mostly confined to Dál Riata until the 8th century, when it began expanding into Pictish areas north of the Firth of Forth, by 900, Pictish appears to have become extinct, completely replaced by Gaelic. An exception might be made for the Northern Isles, however, however, though the Pictish language did not disappear suddenly, a process of Gaelicisation was clearly underway during the reigns of Caustantín and his successors. By a certain point, probably during the 11th century, all the inhabitants of Alba had become fully Gaelicised Scots, by the 10th century, Gaelic had become the dominant language throughout northern and western Scotland, the Gaelo-Pictic Kingdom of Alba. Its spread to southern Scotland, was even and totalizing. Place name analysis suggests dense usage of Gaelic in Galloway and adjoining areas to the north and west as well as in West Lothian, less dense usage is suggested for north Ayrshire, Renfrewshire, the Clyde Valley and eastern Dumfriesshire. In south-eastern Scotland, there is no evidence that Gaelic was ever widely spoken, the area shifted from Cumbric to Old English during its long incorporation into the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Northumbria

17.
Anglo-Norman language
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Anglo-Norman, also known as Anglo-Norman French, is a variety of the Norman language that was used in England and, to a lesser extent, elsewhere in the British Isles during the Anglo-Norman period. One of these was Old Norman, also known as Old Northern French, other followers spoke varieties of the Picard language or western French. It was spoken in the law courts, schools, and universities and, in due course, in at least some sections of the gentry and the growing bourgeoisie. Private and commercial correspondence was carried out in Anglo-Norman or Anglo-French from the 13th to the 15th century though its spelling forms were often displaced by continental spellings. Social classes other than the nobility became keen to learn French, manuscripts containing materials for instructing non-native speakers still exist, although Anglo-Norman and Anglo-French were eventually eclipsed by modern English, they had been used widely enough to influence English vocabulary permanently. Thus, many original Germanic words, cognates of which can still be found in Nordic, German, other such examples are heir apparent, court martial, and body politic. The Royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom still features in French the mottos of both the British Monarch, Dieu et mon droit and the Order of the Garter, Honi soit qui mal y pense. Dieu et mon droit was first used by Richard I in 1198, the motto appears below the shield of the Royal Coat of Arms. Anglo-Norman was never the administrative language of England, Latin was the major language of record in legal. There is evidence, too, that foreign words often entered English via Anglo-Norman, by the late 15th century, however, what remained of insular French had become heavily anglicised, see Law French. It continued to be known as Norman French until the end of the 19th century even though, philologically, among important writers of the Anglo-Norman cultural commonwealth is Marie de France. Much of the earliest recorded French is in fact Anglo-Norman French, Latin did not disappear in medieval England either, it was used by the Church, the royal government and much local administration, as it had been before 1066, in parallel with Middle English. The early adoption of Anglo-Norman as a written and literary language probably owes something to this history of bilingualism in writing, thus, typically, local records are rather different from continental French, with diplomatic and international trade documents closest to the emerging continental norm. English remained the vernacular of the people throughout this period. The resulting virtual trilinguism in spoken and written language was one of medieval Latin, diverse French varieties, from the conquest until the end of the 14th century, French was the language of the king and his court. During this period, marriages with French princesses reinforced the French status in the royal family, nevertheless, during the 13th century, intermarriages with English nobility became more frequent. French became progressively a second language among the upper classes, moreover, with the Hundred Years War and the growing spirit of English nationalism, the status of French diminished. French was the tongue of every English king from William the Conqueror until Henry IV

18.
Knight
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A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a monarch or other political leader for service to the monarch or country, especially in a military capacity. Historically, in Europe, knighthood was conferred upon mounted warriors, during the High Middle Ages, knighthood was considered a class of lower nobility. By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, often, a knight was a vassal who served as a fighter for a lord, with payment in the form of land holdings. The lords trusted the knights, who were skilled in battle on horseback, since the early modern period, the title of knight is purely honorific, usually bestowed by a monarch, as in the British honours system, often for non-military service to the country. The modern female equivalent in the United Kingdom is Dame, furthermore, Geoffroi de Charnys Book of Chivalry expounded upon the importance of Christian faith in every area of a knights life. This novel explored the ideals of knighthood and their incongruity with the reality of Cervantes world, in the late medieval period, new methods of warfare began to render classical knights in armour obsolete, but the titles remained in many nations. Some orders of knighthood, such as the Knights Templar, have become the subject of legend, each of these orders has its own criteria for eligibility, but knighthood is generally granted by a head of state or monarch to selected persons to recognise some meritorious achievement. This linkage is reflected in the etymology of chivalry, cavalier, the special prestige accorded to mounted warriors finds a parallel in the furusiyya in the Muslim world, and the Greek hippeus and Roman eques of classical antiquity. The word knight, from Old English cniht, is a cognate of the German word Knecht and this meaning, of unknown origin, is common among West Germanic languages. Middle High German had the phrase guoter kneht, which also meant knight, the Anglo-Saxon cniht had no connection to horsemanship, the word referred to any servant. A rādcniht, riding-servant, was a servant delivering messages or patrolling coastlines on horseback, a narrowing of the generic meaning servant to military follower of a king or other superior is visible by 1100. The specific military sense of a knight as a warrior in the heavy cavalry emerges only in the Hundred Years War. The verb to knight appears around 1300, and, from the same time, an Equestrian was a member of the second highest social class in the Roman Republic and early Roman Empire. This class is often translated as knight, the medieval knight, both Greek ἳππος and Latin equus are derived from the Proto-Indo-European word root ekwo-, horse. In the later Roman Empire, the classical Latin word for horse, equus, was replaced in common parlance by the vulgar Latin caballus, sometimes thought to derive from Gaulish caballos. From caballus arose terms in the various Romance languages cognate with the English cavalier, Italian cavaliere, Spanish caballero, French chevalier, Portuguese cavaleiro, the Germanic languages have terms cognate with the English rider, German Ritter, and Dutch and Scandinavian ridder. These words are derived from Germanic rīdan, to ride, in turn derived from the Proto-Indo-European root reidh-, in ancient Rome there was a knightly class Ordo Equestris from which European knighthood may have been derived. Some portions of the armies of Germanic peoples who occupied Europe from the 3rd century AD onward had been mounted, in the Early Medieval period any well-equipped horseman could be described as a knight, or miles in Latin

19.
Wars of Scottish Independence
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The Wars of Scottish Independence were a series of military campaigns fought between the Kingdom of Scotland and the Kingdom of England in the late 13th and early 14th centuries. The First War began with the English invasion of Scotland in 1296, the Second War began with the English-supported invasion by Edward Balliol and the Disinherited in 1332, and ended in 1357 with the signing of the Treaty of Berwick. The wars were part of a crisis for Scotland and the period became one of the most defining times in its history. At the end of wars, Scotland retained its status as an independent state. The wars were important for reasons, such as the emergence of the longbow as a key weapon in medieval warfare. King Alexander III of Scotland died in 1286, leaving his three-year-old granddaughter Margaret as his heir. In 1290, the Guardians of Scotland signed the Treaty of Birgham agreeing to the marriage of the Maid of Norway and Edward of Caernarvon, the son of Edward I, who was Margarets great-uncle. However, Margaret, travelling to her new kingdom, died shortly after landing on the Orkney Islands around 26 September 1290, with her death, there were 13 rivals for succession. The two leading competitors for the Scottish crown were Robert Bruce, 5th Lord of Annandale and John Balliol, Edward agreed to meet the guardians at Norham in 1291. Before the process got underway Edward insisted that he be recognised as Lord Paramount of Scotland, when they refused, he gave the claimants three weeks to agree to his terms, knowing that by then his armies would have arrived and the Scots would have no choice. Edwards ploy worked, and the claimants to the crown were forced to acknowledge Edward as their Lord Paramount and accept his arbitration. Their decision was influenced in part by the fact that most of the claimants had large estates in England and, therefore, however, many involved were churchmen such as Bishop Wishart for whom such mitigation cannot be claimed. Two days later, in Upsettlington, the Guardians of the Realm, all Scots were also required to pay homage to Edward I, either in person or at one of the designated centres by 27 July 1291. There were thirteen meetings from May to August 1291 at Berwick, on 3 August, Edward asked Balliol and Bruce to choose 40 arbiters each, while he chose 24, to decide the case. On 12 August, he signed a writ that required the collection of all documents that concern the competitors rights or his own title to the superiority of Scotland. Balliol was named king by a majority on 17 November 1292, on 26 December, at Newcastle upon Tyne, King John swore homage to Edward I for the Kingdom of Scotland. Edward soon made it clear that he regarded the country as a vassal state, Balliol, undermined by members of the Bruce faction, struggled to resist, and the Scots resented Edwards demands. In 1294, Edward summoned John Balliol to appear before him, on his return to Scotland, John held a meeting with his council and after a few days of heated debate, plans were made to defy the orders of Edward I

20.
Andrew Moray
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Andrew Moray, also known as Andrew de Moray, Andrew of Moray, or Andrew Murray, an esquire, was prominent in the Scottish Wars of Independence. He led the rising in north Scotland in the summer of 1297 against the occupation by King Edward I of England and he subsequently merged his forces with those led by William Wallace and jointly led the combined army to victory at the Battle of Stirling Bridge. Moray was mortally wounded in the fighting, dying at an unknown date, Andrew Moray was born late in the second half of the 13th century. The date and place of his birth, and whether he had any siblings, are unknown. Andrews father was Sir Andrew Moray of Petty, Justiciar of Scotia, a son of Walter Moray of Petty—Justiciar of Lothian —and his wife, the heiress of Bothwell. Andrews mother was the daughter of John Comyn of Badenoch. The Morays of Petty were a wealthy and politically influential baronial family whose power base was located in the province of Moray in northeastern Scotland and they traced their origins to Freskin, a man believed to have Flemish origins. He was granted lands in the Laich of Moray during the 12th-century reign of King David I of Scotland, the province of Moray long resisted incorporation into the Scots kingdom, defeating several royal armies in this struggle. Amongst the kings thwarted by the men of Moray was King Dub, Moray was especially problematic for the Canmore kings of Scotland. It was the heartland of rivals, the MacWilliams and MacHeths, resistance to royal rule lingered into the 12th century. In 1130 a rebellion was led by Mormaer Óengus of Moray, King David responded to the rebellion by ‘planting’ of Flemish and other Anglo-Norman loyalists in the area. Rebels were forced from their lands, in the aftermath of Óenguss defeat at the Battle of Stracathro, the province of Moray was taken under royal control. It remained in the hands until 1312 when Robert the Bruce granted the earldom of Moray to his nephew. Although King David and his successors sought to impose their authority on Moray, King Malcolm IV, Davids grandson and successor, uprooted and expelled the local populace. The Chronicle of Holyrood records that in 1163, King Malcolm transferred men of Moray, Moray now finally accepted the rule of the mac Malcolm kings of Scots. At the outbreak of the Anglo-Scottish Wars of the late 13th century the Moray family was established in northern and southern Scotland. Amongst Sir Andrews estates at Petty were lands at Alturile, Brachlie and Croy, Andrew Moray the younger was heir to these lands and castles. This wealth was accompanied by significant political influence, Sir Andrew acted from 1289 as the kings chief law-officer in northern Scotland and may have been co-opted to the guardianship following in the aftermath of the premature death of King Alexander III

21.
Robroyston
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Robroyston is a northeastern suburb of the city of Glasgow, Scotland. It was where Scottish leader William Wallace was turned over to English soldiers in 1305, at the site of Wallaces capture there stands a monument — there have also been proposals put forward for a visitors centre in the area, at the site of the monument. About 200 yards from the monument, Wallaces Well is located on the country road, Robroyston Hospital was built as a municipal smallpox and tuberculosis hospital and opened in 1918. It was temporarily used as a hospital in 1918–19. By 1925,450 beds at Robroyston were devoted to tuberculosis patients, in 1945 a maternity unit was added. In 1948 Robroyston joined the National Health Service under the Board of Management for Glasgow Northern Hospitals, in 1974 it was placed in the Northern District of the Greater Glasgow Health Board. Throughout the 1990s there were massive housing developments in this part of the Urban/rural fringe of Glasgow that drastically increased the population of the suburb to some 8300 people. Robroyston is underdeveloped in terms of community facilities, but a newly opened primary school with community access out of hours is nearby, the Church of Scotland has responded to the growing needs of this new community by establishing Robroyston Church behind Asda at Saughs Drive in the Glendale Estate. Robroyston Church runs both Girls and Boys Brigades and employs two youth workers to work with the local teenagers, the church building is also used by a number of other organisations including a parent and toddler group. The development of the Nova Technology Park also looks to boost the local economy, robroystons proximity to the M80 motorway permits easy access to Glasgow city centre as well as direct commuter routes to Falkirk, Stirling and Edinburgh. A railway station is planned at Robroyston, which is expected to be complete by March 2019, in August 2007, the new Wallacewell Retail Park opened for business – at the moment, Homebase, Currys, Watt Brothers and B & M occupy the available units. An Acorn Pet Centre was also based here, however closed in 2009 after the company went into liquidation. There is also a McDonalds fast food outlet based in the grounds of the Retail Park, Robroyston Community Council have set up a website for residents and interested parties. The Robroytston Facebook and the Robroyston Church website may also be of interest to residents, old Glasgow and Its Suburbs in their Celtic Gard, Also Parish of Baldernock – Kirkintilloch to Stirling – Robroyston by Neil Thomson with 80 pages

22.
Glasgow
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Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland, and third largest in the United Kingdom. Historically part of Lanarkshire, it is now one of the 32 council areas of Scotland and it is situated on the River Clyde in the countrys West Central Lowlands. Inhabitants of the city are referred to as Glaswegians, Glasgow grew from a small rural settlement on the River Clyde to become the largest seaport in Britain. From the 18th century the city grew as one of Great Britains main hubs of transatlantic trade with North America. Glasgow was the Second City of the British Empire for much of the Victorian era and Edwardian period, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries Glasgow grew in population, reaching a peak of 1,128,473 in 1939. The entire region surrounding the conurbation covers about 2.3 million people, at the 2011 census, Glasgow had a population density of 8, 790/sq mi, the highest of any Scottish city. Glasgow hosted the 2014 Commonwealth Games and is well known in the sporting world for the football rivalry of the Old Firm between Celtic and Rangers. Glasgow is also known for Glasgow patter, a dialect that is noted for being difficult to understand by those from outside the city. Glasgow is the form of the ancient Cumbric name Glas Cau. Possibly referring to the area of Molendinar Burn where Glasgow Cathedral now stands, the later Gaelic name Baile Glas Chu, town of the grey dog, is purely a folk-etymology. The present site of Glasgow has been settled since prehistoric times, it is for settlement, being the furthest downstream fording point of the River Clyde, the origins of Glasgow as an established city derive ultimately from its medieval position as Scotlands second largest bishopric. Glasgow increased in importance during the 10th and 11th centuries as the site of this bishopric, reorganised by King David I of Scotland and John, there had been an earlier religious site established by Saint Mungo in the 6th century. The bishopric became one of the largest and wealthiest in the Kingdom of Scotland, bringing wealth, sometime between 1189 and 1195 this status was supplemented by an annual fair, which survives as the Glasgow Fair. Glasgow grew over the following centuries, the first bridge over the River Clyde at Glasgow was recorded from around 1285, giving its name to the Briggait area of the city, forming the main North-South route over the river via Glasgow Cross. The founding of the University of Glasgow in 1451 and elevation of the bishopric to become the Archdiocese of Glasgow in 1492 increased the towns religious and educational status and landed wealth. Its early trade was in agriculture, brewing and fishing, with cured salmon and herring being exported to Europe, Glasgow was subsequently raised to the status of Royal Burgh in 1611. The citys Tobacco Lords created a water port at Port Glasgow on the Firth of Clyde. By the late 18th century more than half of the British tobacco trade was concentrated on Glasgows River Clyde, at the time, Glasgow held a commercial importance as the city participated in the trade of sugar, tobacco and later cotton

23.
Edward I of England
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Edward I, also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England from 1272 to 1307. He spent much of his reign reforming royal administration and common law, through an extensive legal inquiry, Edward investigated the tenure of various feudal liberties, while the law was reformed through a series of statutes regulating criminal and property law. Increasingly, however, Edwards attention was drawn towards military affairs, the first son of Henry III, Edward was involved early in the political intrigues of his fathers reign, which included an outright rebellion by the English barons. In 1259, he sided with a baronial reform movement. After reconciliation with his father, however, he remained throughout the subsequent armed conflict. After the Battle of Lewes, Edward was hostage to the rebellious barons, Montfort was defeated at the Battle of Evesham in 1265, and within two years the rebellion was extinguished. With England pacified, Edward joined the Ninth Crusade to the Holy Land, the crusade accomplished little, and Edward was on his way home in 1272 when he was informed that his father had died. Making a slow return, he reached England in 1274 and was crowned at Westminster on 19 August, after suppressing a minor rebellion in Wales in 1276–77, Edward responded to a second rebellion in 1282–83 with a full-scale war of conquest. After a successful campaign, Edward subjected Wales to English rule, built a series of castles and towns in the countryside, next, his efforts were directed towards Scotland. Initially invited to arbitrate a dispute, Edward claimed feudal suzerainty over the kingdom. In the war followed, the Scots persevered, even though the English seemed victorious at several points. At the same there were problems at home. In the mid-1290s, extensive military campaigns required high levels of taxation and these crises were initially averted, but issues remained unsettled. When the King died in 1307, he left to his son, Edward II, Edward I was a tall man for his era, hence the nickname Longshanks. He was temperamental, and this, along with his height, made him an intimidating man, nevertheless, he held the respect of his subjects for the way he embodied the medieval ideal of kingship, as a soldier, an administrator and a man of faith. The Edict remained in effect for the rest of the Middle Ages, Edward was born at the Palace of Westminster on the night of 17–18 June 1239, to King Henry III and Eleanor of Provence. Among his childhood friends was his cousin Henry of Almain, son of King Henrys brother Richard of Cornwall, Henry of Almain would remain a close companion of the prince, both through the civil war that followed, and later during the crusade. Edward was in the care of Hugh Giffard – father of the future Chancellor Godfrey Giffard – until Bartholomew Pecche took over at Giffards death in 1246, there were concerns about Edwards health as a child, and he fell ill in 1246,1247, and 1251

24.
Hanged, drawn, and quartered
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To be hanged, drawn and quartered was from 1351 a statutory penalty in England for men convicted of high treason, although the ritual was first recorded during the reign of King Henry III. Convicts were fastened to a hurdle, or wooden panel, and drawn by horse to the place of execution and their remains were often displayed in prominent places across the country, such as London Bridge. For reasons of public decency, women convicted of treason were instead burned at the stake. The severity of the sentence was measured against the seriousness of the crime and they included many English Catholic priests executed during the Elizabethan era, and several of the regicides involved in the 1649 execution of Charles I. The death penalty for treason was abolished in 1998, during the High Middle Ages those in England guilty of treason were punished in a variety of ways, including drawing and hanging. In the 13th century other, more brutal penalties were introduced, the 13th-century English chronicler Matthew Paris described how in 1238 a certain man at arms, a man of some education attempted to kill King Henry III. He was apparently sent by William de Marisco, an outlaw who some years earlier had killed a man under royal protection before fleeing to Lundy Island, de Marisco was captured in 1242 and on Henrys order dragged from Westminster to the Tower of London to be executed. There he was hanged from a gibbet until dead and his corpse was disembowelled, his entrails burned, his body quartered and the parts distributed to cities across the country. The punishment is more frequently recorded during Edward Is reign, welshman Dafydd ap Gruffydd became the first nobleman in England to be hanged, drawn and quartered after he turned against the king and proclaimed himself Prince of Wales and Lord of Snowdon. Dafydds rebellion infuriated Edward so much that he demanded a novel punishment, therefore, following his capture and trial in 1283, for his betrayal he was drawn by horse to his place of execution. For killing English nobles he was hanged alive, for killing those nobles at Easter he was eviscerated and his entrails burned. For conspiring to kill the king in parts of the realm, his body was quartered. A similar fate was suffered by the Scottish leader Sir William Wallace, captured and tried in 1305, he was forced to wear a crown of laurel leaves and was drawn to Smithfield, where he was hanged and beheaded. His entrails were then burned and his corpse quartered and his head was set on London Bridge and the quarters sent to Newcastle, Berwick, Stirling and Perth. Treason was based on an allegiance to the sovereign from all subjects aged 14 or over and it remained for the king, Edward therefore introduced the Treason Act 1351. It was enacted at a time in English history when a right to rule was indisputable and was therefore written principally to protect the throne. The new law offered a definition of treason than had existed before. Petty treason referred to the killing of a master by his servant, men guilty of petty treason were drawn and hanged, whereas women were burned

25.
Protagonist
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A protagonist is the main character in any story, such as a literary work or drama. The protagonist is at the center of the story, typically makes the key decisions, the protagonist usually affects the main characters circumstances as well, as they are often the primary actor propelling the story forward. If a story contains a subplot, or is a made up of several stories. The word protagonist is used notably in stories and forms of literature and culture that contain stories, in those forms the protagonist may simply be the leading actor, or the principal character in the story. The antagonist will provide obstacles and complications and create conflict that test the protagonist, thus revealing the strengths, the earliest known examples of protagonist are dated back to Ancient Greece. At first dramatic performances involved merely dancing and recitation by the chorus, but then in Poetics, Aristotle describes how a poet named Thespis introduced the idea of having one actor step out and engage in a dialogue with the chorus. This was the invention of tragedy, which occurred about 536 B. C, then the poet Aeschylus, in his plays, introduced a second actor, inventing the idea of dialogue between two characters. Sophocles then wrote plays that required a third actor, euripides play Hippolytus may be considered to have two protagonists. The protagonist of the first half is Phaedra, who dies partway through the play and her stepson, the titular Hippolytus, assumes the dominant role in the second half of the play. In Ibsen’s play The Master Builder, the protagonist is the architect Halvard Solness, the young woman, Hilda Wangel, whose actions lead to the death of Solness, is the antagonist. In Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet, Romeo is the protagonist and he is actively in pursuit of his relationship with Juliet, and the audience is invested in that story. The character of Tybalt opposes Romeo’s desires, he is the antagonist, in Shakespeare’s play Hamlet, Prince Hamlet, who seeks revenge for the murder of his father, is the protagonist. The antagonist would be the character who most opposes Hamlet, Claudius, in the novel The Catcher in the Rye, the character Holden Caulfield is the protagonist. He is the character, and the reader is invested in his story. Sometimes, a work will have a false protagonist, who may seem to be the protagonist, the character Marion in Alfred Hitchcocks film Psycho is an example. A novel that contains a number of narratives may have a number of protagonists, alexander Solzhenitsyns The First Circle, for example, depicts a variety of characters imprisoned and living in a gulag camp. Leo Tolstoys War and Peace, depicts fifteen major characters involved in or affected by a war

26.
Blind Harry
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This was a lengthy poem recounting the life of William Wallace, the Scottish independence leader, written around 1477,172 years after Wallaces death. Little is known about Blind Harrys life, one source is the Lord High Treasurers accounts of 1473–1492, which recorded payments to him for performances at the court of James IV. This is the last mention of Harry in the accounts and he is mentioned by William Dunbar on line 69 of his Lament for the Makeris early in the 16th century. Historian John Major also wrote about Harry in 1518 and these sources differed on whether or not he was blind from birth, but Harry almost certainly seems to have had a military background. Blind Harry claimed his work was based on a book by Father John Blair, Wallaces boyhood friend, most historians nowadays regard Acts and Deeds as a versified historical novel, written at a time of strong anti-English sentiment in Scotland. At twelve volumes, the work is also doubted to be solely his work, Elspeth King maintained that despite any inaccuracies, Harrys patriotic and nationalistic portrayal was to ensure Wallaces continuing reputation as a hero. Harrys depiction of Wallace has been criticised by Major and others as being fictionalized, are there any more dogs you would have slain. Harry is often considered inferior to Barbour as a poet, and has little of his elevation, but he surpasses him in graphic power, vividness of description. He occasionally shows the influence of Chaucer, and is said to have known Latin, Blind Harrys words were made more accessible by a translation written by William Hamilton of Gilbertfield published in 1722. In this form they met the notice of such as Robert Burns, Lord Byron, Robert Southey, John Keats, Joanna Baillie. It was also an important source for Randall Wallace in his writing of the screenplay of Braveheart, most recently, in 1998, Elspeth King published Hamiltons text amended for modern readers as Blind Harrys Wallace. Blind Harry mentions a number of battles or skirmishes fought by Wallace which are now regarded by historians as unhistorical and these battles are sometimes referenced as historical events by accounts which do not cross-check the stories in Acts and Deeds against another source. Dubious battles include the Battle of Loudoun Hill in 1296, the Battle of Biggar in 1297, in the case of the folkloric Battle of Loudoun Hill, later enthusiasts have erected a monument to Wallace at the site. Similarly, the story of a hanging of Scots nobles at Ayr is described by Blind Harry, and is repeated in a number of places, including the film Braveheart. This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Cousin. Blind Harry or Henry The Minstrel, a Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature. London, J. M. Dent & Sons, wikisource Folklore, Myths and Legends of Britain,520. Blind Harrys Wallace translated by William Hamilton, introduction by Elspeth King, the Wallace Anne McKim George Lillie Craik

27.
Epic poem
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An epic poem, epic, epos, or epopee is a lengthy narrative poem, ordinarily concerning a serious subject containing details of heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation. Milman Parry and Albert Lord have argued that the Homeric epics and these works form the basis of the epic genre in Western literature. Nearly all Western epic self-consciously presents itself as a continuation of the tradition begun by these poems, classical epic employs dactylic hexameter and recounts a journey, either physical or mental or both. Epics also tend to highlight cultural norms and to define or call into question cultural values, another type of epic poetry is epyllion, which is a brief narrative poem with a romantic or mythological theme. The term, which means little epic, came into use in the nineteenth century, the most famous example of classical epyllion is perhaps Catullus 64. The first epics were products of preliterate societies and oral history poetic traditions, in these traditions, poetry is transmitted to the audience and from performer to performer by purely oral means. Early twentieth-century study of living oral traditions in the Balkans by Milman Parry. What they demonstrated was that oral epics tend to be constructed in short episodes, each of equal status, interest and this facilitates memorization, as the poet is recalling each episode in turn and using the completed episodes to recreate the entire epic as he performs it. Parry and Lord also contend that the most likely source for written texts of the epics of Homer was dictation from an oral performance, poets in literate societies have sometimes copied the epic format. The earliest surviving European examples are the Argonautica of Apollonius of Rhodes and Virgils Aeneid, other obvious examples are Nonnus Dionysiaca, Tulsidas Sri Ramacharit Manas. In his work Poetics, Aristotle defines an epic as one of the forms of poetry, contrasted with lyric poetry, an attempt to delineate ten main characteristics of an epic, Begins in medias res. The setting is vast, covering many nations, the world or the universe, Begins with an invocation to a muse. Begins with a statement of the theme, contains long lists, called an epic catalogue. Shows divine intervention on human affairs, features heroes that embody the values of the civilization. Often features the tragic heros descent into the Underworld or hell, the hero generally participates in a cyclical journey or quest, faces adversaries that try to defeat him in his journey and returns home significantly transformed by his journey. The epic hero illustrates traits, performs deeds, and exemplifies certain morals that are valued by the society the epic originates from, many epic heroes are recurring characters in the legends of their native culture. Conventions of epics, Preposition, Opens by stating the theme or cause of the epic and this may take the form of a purpose, of a question, or of a situation. Invocation, Writer invokes a Muse, one of the nine daughters of Zeus, the poet prays to the Muses to provide him with divine inspiration to tell the story of a great hero

28.
The Wallace (poem)
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As the title suggests, it commemorates and eulogises the life and actions of the Scottish freedom fighter William Wallace who lived a century and a half earlier. The poem is historically inaccurate, and mentions several events that never happened, for several hundred years following its publication, The Wallace was the second most popular book in Scotland after the Bible. The earliest extant text is a made by John Ramsay, 1st Lord Bothwell in 1488. The first mention of Blind Harry as the author was made by John Mair in his 1521 work Historia Majoris Britanniae. It was later republished in the late 18th century by the poet William Hamilton and this version also went through over 20 editions, with the last published in 1859. The Wallace is a narrative work composed in decasyllabic rhyming couplets. It forms a biography of William Wallace from his boyhood, through his career as a Scots patriot in the First War of Independence until his execution in London in 1305. The poem has some basis in fact with descriptions of the Battle of Stirling Bridge. The factual elements of the poem are, however, combined with many fictional elements, Wallace is depicted as an ideal hero in the tradition of chivalric romance. He is described as being courageous, patriotic, devout. The English are depicted throughout as the natural and irreconcilable enemies of the Scots, in the early texts of the poem, the author of The Wallace is referred to as Hary or Blind Hary but little is known for certain about the poet. A man referred to as Blind Hary is recorded as having received payments from King James IV on five occasions between 1490 and 1492, the reasons for the payments are not specified. A Blind Hary is also mentioned by the near-contemporary poet William Dunbar in his Lament for the Makaris, in this poem Hary is included in a list of deceased poets mourned by Dunbar. The Scots scholar John Mair identified Blind Hary as the author of The Wallace in his work Historia Majoris Britanniae or The History Of Greater Britain of 1521, the Wallace appears to date to the latter half of the fifteenth century. The earliest surviving copy, the Ramsay Manuscript, is dated to 1488, Blind Hary refers to having consulted William Wallace of Craigie while composing the poem and Wallace of Craigie is known to have died in 1479. Furthermore, during the 1470s King James III was engaged in a policy of reconciliation with King Edward IV of England. The poem, with its depiction of the English, may represent a criticism of this policy as typified in its opening verse. The earliest surviving manuscript of the poem was written in 1488 by John Ramsay, the Ramsay manuscript is preserved in the National Library of Scotland under the catalogue number Adv

29.
Walter Scott
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Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet, FRSE was a Scottish historical novelist, playwright and poet. Many of his works remain classics of both English-language literature and of Scottish literature, famous titles include Ivanhoe, Rob Roy, Old Mortality, The Lady of the Lake, Waverley, The Heart of Midlothian and The Bride of Lammermoor. A prominent member of the Tory establishment in Edinburgh, Scott was an member of the Highland Society. He survived a bout of polio in 1773 that left him lame. To cure his lameness he was sent in 1773 to live in the rural Scottish Borders at his grandparents farm at Sandyknowe, adjacent to the ruin of Smailholm Tower. Here he was taught to read by his aunt Jenny, and learned from her the speech patterns and many of the tales and legends that characterised much of his work. In January 1775 he returned to Edinburgh, and that went with his aunt Jenny to take spa treatment at Bath in England. In the winter of 1776 he went back to Sandyknowe, with another attempt at a cure at Prestonpans during the following summer. In 1778, Scott returned to Edinburgh for private education to him for school. In October 1779 he began at the Royal High School of Edinburgh and he was now well able to walk and explore the city and the surrounding countryside. His reading included chivalric romances, poems, history and travel books and he was given private tuition by James Mitchell in arithmetic and writing, and learned from him the history of the Church of Scotland with emphasis on the Covenanters. Scott began studying classics at the University of Edinburgh in November 1783, at the age of 12, in March 1786 he began an apprenticeship in his fathers office to become a Writer to the Signet. While at the university Scott had become a friend of Adam Ferguson, Scott met the blind poet Thomas Blacklock, who lent him books and introduced him to James Macphersons Ossian cycle of poems. During the winter of 1786–87 the 15-year-old Scott saw Robert Burns at one of these salons, for what was to be their only meeting. When Burns noticed a print illustrating the poem The Justice of the Peace and asked who had written the poem, only Scott knew that it was by John Langhorne, and was thanked by Burns. When it was decided that he would become a lawyer, he returned to the university to study law, first taking classes in Moral Philosophy, after completing his studies in law, he became a lawyer in Edinburgh. As a lawyers clerk he made his first visit to the Scottish Highlands directing an eviction and he was admitted to the Faculty of Advocates in 1792. He had an unsuccessful love suit with Williamina Belsches of Fettercairn, as a boy, youth and young man, Scott was fascinated by the oral traditions of the Scottish Borders

30.
Jane Porter
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Jane Porter was a Scottish historical novelist, dramatist and literary figure. Her work The Scottish Chiefs is seen as one of the earliest historical novels, Jane Porter was born in Durham as the third of the five children of William Porter and Jane née Blenkinsop. Tall and beautiful as she grew up, Jane Porters grave air earned her the nickname La Penserosa, after her fathers death, her family moved to Edinburgh, where Sir Walter Scott was a regular visitor. Porters siblings also achieved fame in their lifetimes, her sister Anna Maria Porter was also a novelist. Porter is considered to have crafted and pioneered many of the tools most commonly associated with both the national tale and the historical novel. Her 1810 work The Scottish Chiefs, about William Wallace, one of the earliest examples of the novel, was very successful. It has remained popular with Scottish children, the Pastors Fireside was a story about the later Stuarts. Porter contributed to periodicals and wrote the play Switzerland, which seems to have deliberately sabotaged by its lead Edmund Kean. She is sometimes credited with the 1822 production Owen, Prince of Powys, Porter also wrote Tales Round a Winter Hearth, Coming Out, and The Field of Forty Footsteps with her sister, Anna Maria. In her later years, Porter continued to write pieces for journals. Many were published anonymously or simply signed J. P and her wide-ranging topics included Peter the Great, Simón Bolívar, and the African explorer Dixon Denham. Porter, like so many of her contemporaries, was fascinated by Lord Byron, the villain in The Pastors Fireside, Duke Wharton, has been said to cast an unmistakably Byronic shadow. Additional influences on Porters writing include her schoolmaster George Fulton, as well as Edmund Spensers The Faerie Queene, Works by Jane Porter at Project Gutenberg Works by or about Jane Porter at Internet Archive Works by Jane Porter at LibriVox Archival material relating to Jane Porter. Porter Family Collection at the Kenneth Spencer Research Library at the University of Kansas reformation. org encyclopedia. jrank. org indiana. edu british-fiction. cf. ac. uk

31.
Academy Award
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The various category winners are awarded a copy of a golden statuette, officially called the Academy Award of Merit, which has become commonly known by its nickname Oscar. The awards, first presented in 1929 at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, are overseen by AMPAS, the awards ceremony was first broadcast on radio in 1930 and televised for the first time in 1953. It is now live in more than 200 countries and can be streamed live online. The Academy Awards ceremony is the oldest worldwide entertainment awards ceremony and its equivalents – the Emmy Awards for television, the Tony Awards for theater, and the Grammy Awards for music and recording – are modeled after the Academy Awards. The 89th Academy Awards ceremony, honoring the best films of 2016, were held on February 26,2017, at the Dolby Theatre, in Los Angeles, the ceremony was hosted by Jimmy Kimmel and was broadcast on ABC. A total of 3,048 Oscars have been awarded from the inception of the award through the 88th, the first Academy Awards presentation was held on May 16,1929, at a private dinner function at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel with an audience of about 270 people. The post-awards party was held at the Mayfair Hotel, the cost of guest tickets for that nights ceremony was $5. Fifteen statuettes were awarded, honoring artists, directors and other participants in the industry of the time. The ceremony ran for 15 minutes, winners were announced to media three months earlier, however, that was changed for the second ceremony in 1930. Since then, for the rest of the first decade, the results were given to newspapers for publication at 11,00 pm on the night of the awards. The first Best Actor awarded was Emil Jannings, for his performances in The Last Command and he had to return to Europe before the ceremony, so the Academy agreed to give him the prize earlier, this made him the first Academy Award winner in history. With the fourth ceremony, however, the system changed, for the first six ceremonies, the eligibility period spanned two calendar years. At the 29th ceremony, held on March 27,1957, until then, foreign-language films had been honored with the Special Achievement Award. The 74th Academy Awards, held in 2002, presented the first Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, since 1973, all Academy Awards ceremonies always end with the Academy Award for Best Picture. The Academy also awards Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting, see also § Awards of Merit categories The best known award is the Academy Award of Merit, more popularly known as the Oscar statuette. The five spokes represent the branches of the Academy, Actors, Writers, Directors, Producers. The model for the statuette is said to be Mexican actor Emilio El Indio Fernández, sculptor George Stanley sculpted Cedric Gibbons design. The statuettes presented at the ceremonies were gold-plated solid bronze

32.
Film
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A film, also called a movie, motion picture, theatrical film or photoplay, is a series of still images which, when shown on a screen, creates the illusion of moving images due to the phi phenomenon. This optical illusion causes the audience to perceive continuous motion between separate objects viewed rapidly in succession, the process of filmmaking is both an art and an industry. The word cinema, short for cinematography, is used to refer to the industry of films. Films were originally recorded onto plastic film through a photochemical process, the adoption of CGI-based special effects led to the use of digital intermediates. Most contemporary films are now fully digital through the process of production, distribution. Films recorded in a form traditionally included an analogous optical soundtrack. It runs along a portion of the film exclusively reserved for it and is not projected, Films are cultural artifacts created by specific cultures. They reflect those cultures, and, in turn, affect them, Film is considered to be an important art form, a source of popular entertainment, and a powerful medium for educating—or indoctrinating—citizens. The visual basis of film gives it a power of communication. Some films have become popular worldwide attractions by using dubbing or subtitles to translate the dialog into the language of the viewer, some have criticized the film industrys glorification of violence and its potentially negative treatment of women. The individual images that make up a film are called frames, the perception of motion is due to a psychological effect called phi phenomenon. The name film originates from the fact that film has historically been the medium for recording and displaying motion pictures. Many other terms exist for a motion picture, including picture, picture show, moving picture, photoplay. The most common term in the United States is movie, while in Europe film is preferred. Terms for the field, in general, include the big screen, the screen, the movies, and cinema. In early years, the sheet was sometimes used instead of screen. Preceding film in origin by thousands of years, early plays and dances had elements common to film, scripts, sets, costumes, production, direction, actors, audiences, storyboards, much terminology later used in film theory and criticism apply, such as mise en scène. Owing to the lack of any technology for doing so, the moving images, the magic lantern, probably created by Christiaan Huygens in the 1650s, could be used to project animation, which was achieved by various types of mechanical slides

33.
Braveheart
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Braveheart is a 1995 American epic war film directed by and starring Mel Gibson. Gibson portrays William Wallace, a 13th-century Scottish warrior who led the Scots in the First War of Scottish Independence against King Edward I of England. The story is inspired by Blind Harrys epic poem The Actes and Deidis of the Illustre, the film was nominated for ten Academy Awards at the 68th Academy Awards and won five, Best Picture, Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Makeup, and Best Sound Editing. In 1280, King Edward Longshanks invades and conquers Scotland following the death of Alexander III of Scotland, Years later, Longshanks grants his noblemen land and privileges in Scotland, including Prima Nocte. Meanwhile, a grown Wallace returns to Scotland and falls in love with his childhood friend Murron MacClannough, Wallace rescues Murron from being raped by English soldiers, but as she fights off their second attempt, Murron is captured and publicly executed. In retribution, Wallace leads his clan to slaughter the English garrison in his hometown, Longshanks orders his son Prince Edward to stop Wallace by any means necessary. Wallace rebels against the English, and as his legend spreads, hundreds of Scots from the surrounding clans join him. Wallace leads his army to victory at the Battle of Stirling Bridge and then destroys the city of York, killing Longshanks nephew, Wallace seeks the assistance of Robert the Bruce, the son of nobleman Robert the Elder and a contender for the Scottish crown. Robert is dominated by his father, who wishes to secure the throne for his son by submitting to the English, worried by the threat of the rebellion, Longshanks sends his sons wife Isabella of France to try to negotiate with Wallace. After meeting him in person, Isabella becomes enamored of Wallace, warned of the coming invasion by Isabella, Wallace implores the Scottish nobility to take immediate action to counter the threat and take back the country. Leading the English army himself, Longshanks confronts the Scots at Falkirk where noblemen Lochlan and Mornay, having been bribed by Longshanks, betray Wallace, causing the Scots to lose the battle. As Wallace charges toward the departing Longshanks on horseback, he is intercepted by one of the kings lancers, remorseful, he gets Wallace to safety before the English can capture him. Wallace kills Lochlan and Mornay for their betrayal, and wages a war against the English for the next seven years, assisted by Isabella. Robert sets up a meeting with Wallace in Edinburgh, but Roberts father has conspired with other nobles to capture, learning of his treachery, Robert disowns his father. Isabella exacts revenge on the now terminally ill Longshanks by telling him she is pregnant with Wallaces child, in London, Wallace is brought before an English magistrate, tried for high treason, and condemned to public torture and beheading. Even whilst being hanged, drawn and quartered, Wallace refuses to submit to the king, and the judge orders his death. Moments before being decapitated, Wallace sees a vision of Murron in the crowd, in 1314, Robert, now Scotlands king, leads a Scottish army before a ceremonial line of English troops on the fields of Bannockburn, where he is to formally accept English rule. As he begins to ride toward the English, he stops and invokes Wallaces memory, Robert then leads his army into battle against the stunned English, winning the Scots their freedom

34.
Seal (device)
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A seal is a device for making an impression in wax, clay, paper, or some other medium, including an embossment on paper, and is also the impression thus made. The original purpose was to authenticate a document, a wrapper for one such as a modern envelope, the seal-making device is also referred to as the seal matrix or die, the imprint it creates as the seal impression. In most traditional forms of dry seal the design on the matrix is in intaglio. The design on the impression will reverse that of the matrix and this will not be the case if paper is embossed from behind, where the matrix and impression read the same way, and both matrix and impression are in relief. However engraved gems were carved in relief, called cameo in this context. The process is essentially that of a mould and these pendent seal impressions dangled below the documents they authenticated, to which the attachment tag was sewn or otherwise attached. Some jurisdictions consider rubber stamps or specified signature-accompanying words such as seal or L. S. to be the equivalent of, i. e. an equally effective substitute for. In Europe, although coats of arms and heraldic badges may well feature in such contexts as well as on seals, the study of seals is known as sigillography or sphragistics. Seals were used in the earliest civilizations and are of importance in archaeology. In ancient Mesopotamia carved or engraved cylinder seals in stone or other materials were used and these could be rolled along to create an impression on clay, and used as labels on consignments of trade goods, or for other purposes. They are normally hollow and it is presumed that they were worn on a string or chain round the neck, many have only images, often very finely carved, with no writing, while others have both. From Ancient Egypt seals in the form of signet-rings, including some with the names of kings, have been found, recently, seals have come to light in South Arabia datable to the Himyarite age. One example shows a name written in Aramaic engraved in reverse so as to read correctly in the impression, from the beginning of the 3rd millennium BC until the Middle Ages, seals of various kinds were in production in the Aegean islands and mainland Greece. In the Early Minoan age these were formed of stone and ivory. By the Middle Minoan age a new set for seal forms, motifs, hard stone requires new rotary carving techniques. The Late Bronze Age is the par excellence of the lens-shaped seal and the seal ring. These were a luxury art form and became keenly collected. His collection fell as booty to Pompey the Great, who deposited it in a temple in Rome, engraved gems continued to be produced and collected until the 19th century

35.
Hanse
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The Hanseatic League was a commercial and defensive confederation of merchant guilds and their market towns. Growing from a few North German towns in the late 1100s and it stretched from the Baltic to the North Sea and inland during the Late Middle Ages and early modern period. Hanse, later spelled as Hansa, was the Middle Low German word for a convoy, the League was created to protect the guilds economic interests and diplomatic privileges in their affiliated cities and countries, as well as along the trade routes the merchants visited. The Hanseatic cities had their own system and furnished their own armies for mutual protection. The hegemony of Lübeck peaked during the 15th century, Lübeck became a base for merchants from Saxony and Westphalia trading eastward and northward. This area was a source of timber, wax, amber, resins, the towns raised their own armies, with each guild required to provide levies when needed. The Hanseatic cities came to the aid of one another, and commercial ships often had to be used to carry soldiers, Visby functioned as the leading centre in the Baltic before the Hansa. Sailing east, Visby merchants established a trading post at Novgorod called Gutagard in 1080, Merchants from northern Germany also stayed in the early period of the Gotlander settlement. Later they established their own trading station in Novgorod, known as Peterhof, in 1229, German merchants at Novgorod were granted certain privileges that made their position more secure. Hansa societies worked to remove restrictions to trade for their members, before the official foundation of the League in 1356, the word Hanse did not occur in the Baltic language. The earliest remaining documentary mention, although without a name, of a specific German commercial federation is from London 1157. That year, the merchants of the Hansa in Cologne convinced Henry II, King of England, to them from all tolls in London. The allied cities gained control over most of the trade, especially the Scania Market. In 1266, Henry III of England granted the Lübeck and Hamburg Hansa a charter for operations in England, much of the drive for this co-operation came from the fragmented nature of existing territorial government, which failed to provide security for trade. Over the next 50 years the Hansa itself emerged with formal agreements for confederation and co-operation covering the west and east trade routes. The principal city and linchpin remained Lübeck, with the first general Diet of the Hansa held there in 1356, other such alliances formed throughout the Holy Roman Empire. Yet the League never became a closely managed formal organisation, over the period, a network of alliances grew to include a flexible roster of 70 to 170 cities. The league succeeded in establishing additional Kontors in Bruges, Bergen and these trading posts became significant enclaves

36.
Ayrshire
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Ayrshire is a historic county in south-west Scotland, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. It is also, under the name the County of Ayr and its principal towns include Ayr, Kilmarnock and Irvine. Like the other counties of Scotland, it currently has no function, instead being sub-divided into the council areas of North Ayrshire, South Ayrshire. It has a population of approximately 366,800, the three islands were part of the County of Bute until 1975 and are not always included when the term Ayrshire is applied to the region. The same area is known as Ayrshire and Arran in other contexts, Ayrshire is one of the most agriculturally fertile regions of Scotland. Ayrshire shares with Dumfries and Galloway some rugged hills country known as the Galloway Hills and these hill lie to the west of the A713 and they run south from the Loch Doon area almost to the Solway Firth. To the east of this route through the hills lie the Carsphairn and Scaur Hills which lie to the south east of Dalmellington, glen Afton runs deep into these hills. Glasgow Prestwick International Airport, serving Glasgow and the West of Scotland more generally, is located more than 30 miles away from Glasgow in Ayrshire. Moreover it has a niche in history as the only place in Britain visited by Elvis Presley. The area that today forms Ayrshire was part of the south of the Antonine Wall which was briefly occupied by the Romans during the reign of Emperor Antoninus Pius. It was inhabited by the Damnonii, who are presumed to have been Britons, later, it formed part of the British Kingdom of Strathclyde, which was incorporated into the Kingdom of Scotland during the 11th century. In 1263, the Scots successfully drove off of the Norwegian leidang-army in a known as the Battle of Largs. A notable historic building in Ayrshire is Turnberry Castle, which dates from the 13th century or earlier, the historic shire or sheriffdom of Ayr was divided into three districts or bailieries which later made up the county of Ayrshire. The three districts were, Carrick in the south and it was situated between the Doon and the wild district of Galloway in the adjoining Stewartries, an area that was little else than a vast tract of hills and mosses. Cunninghame in the north included the royal burgh of Irvine was that part of the county which lay north of the Irvine water. The area used to be heavily industrialised, with making, coal mining and in Kilmarnock numerous examples of production-line manufacturing. In more recent history, Digital Equipment had a manufacturing plant near Ayr from about 1976 until the company was taken over by Compaq in 1998. Some supplier companies grew up to service this site and the more distant IBM plant at Greenock in Renfrewshire, however, unemployment in the region is above the national average

37.
Riccarton, Ayrshire
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Riccarton is a village and parish in East Ayrshire, Scotland. It lies across the River Irvine from Kilmarnock, this forming the boundary between Riccarton and Kilmarnock parishes, and also between the historical districts of Kyle and Cunningham. The name is a corruption of Richards town, traditionally said to refer to Richard Wallace, the parish also contains the village of Hurlford. The village became a Burgh of Barony in 1638, but its powers were never exercised. Riccarton is also sometimes called Ellerslie, in 1875 Riccarton had a population of 1889, but by 1951 that had increased to between 7000 and 8000, many of whom were employed at the Glenfield Works in Kilmarnock. The ancient 109 merkland barony included 54 separate landholdings, including the coalheughs of Riccarton and all the buildings, orchards, woods, mills, Riccarton and Shaws mill were included. Also the £17 lands of Kaimshill, Auchindinane and Hunthall, oddly also the £5 land of Elderslie in Renfrewshire, the 4 merklands of Inchgotrig and the 2 merklands of Holme. A pre-reformation Riccarton parish church stood in the centre of the old ground, first noted, as a chapel, in 1229. It was granted by Walter, High Steward of Scotland, to the short lived independent Gilbertine convent of Dalmulin and this convent was dissolved in 1238, and the chapel given to the monastery of Paisley, becoming the parish church, which still belonged to the monks. The last patrons were the Cuninghames of Caprington, whose impressive memorial still stands, the oldest discernible stone is marked 1641. Unfortunately many are very worn and heraldic devices, etc. can no longer be made out with any certainty, from the presbytery records it would appear to have been rebuilt in 1725. It was replaced by the present church in 1823, which was built on the old Judgement or Moot hill of the barony of Riccarton. Of the old church in the churchyard nearby, nothing now remains above ground. The manse no longer exists, however it had a claim to significance in that it had a mantelpiece in its kitchen which came from the room of Riccarton castle. Mr. Moodie was the Auld-Licht Protestant minister of Riccarton lampooned by Robert Burns in his poem The Holy Fair, Burns has him preaching with hell-fire roaring, enough to send the Devil himself back to his hot hell in fright. Gilbert de Grimsby was born at Riccarton and would have known William Wallace during his childhood and he had served under Edward in Flanders and Picardy and had been selected as a pursuivant or herald. The Rev. Alexander Moodie, minister of the parish, is buried in the old cemetery, Robbie Burns mentions him in The Holy Fair. Sandy McCrone was a fiddler who is remembered for having climbed to the top of the new church when the scaffolding was still in place

38.
Tarbolton
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Tarbolton is a village in South Ayrshire, Scotland. It is near Failford, Mauchline and the same bar a few hundreds yards to Ayr. The old Fail Monastery was nearby and Robert Burns connections are strong, including the Bachelors Club museum, the name was recorded as Torbolten in 1138, suggesting this origin. Village by the field and hill, from Old English torr tor, hill, cliff and bÄll field, as in Dunball, Somerset, with tun farm, the names record in writing as Torballtone in 1209 suggests this origin may be possible. Records of the name as Torbalyrtune in 1148 suggest this origin, Tarbolton is 7 miles east north east from Ayr,7 miles southwest of the town of Kilmarnock,5 miles West of Mauchline and 1 1⁄4 miles from its own railway station. It has a school, church, a hall, a Post Office,3 pubs, and is home to the Bachelors Club. Fail Loch once covered a significant area however it now only as an area liable to flooding. Nearby going towards Failford was the Old Montgomery House where Robert Burns love worked, Tarbolton Primary takes pupils from surrounding farms and from Failford St, a small hamlet north of the village. Its houses are Fail, Afton, Coyle and Montgomery, named after local areas, famous residents of Tarbolton include striker Kris Boyd. Boxing legend Evan Armstrong who was British Featherweight Champion from 17 September 1973 until 8 July 1974, no longer a resident but born and raised in Tarbolton, John Ian McLauchlan - Scottish Rugby Union Footballer from 1969 until 1979. Winner of Britains Got Talent 2011, singer Jai McDowall

39.
Auchincruive
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Auchincruive is a former country house and estate in South Ayrshire, Scotland. It is located 4 kilometres east of Ayr, on the bank of the River Ayr. Auchincruive House was built in the 18th century on the site of an earlier mansion, in 1927 the estate became the West of Scotland College of Agriculture, and the house was renamed Oswald Hall. The college became the Scottish Agricultural College in 1990, in 2007 the college announced that the site would be disposed of for redevelopment, and masterplan proposals were approved by South Ayrshire Council in January 2011. The house is protected as a category A listed building, along other buildings on the estate. The estate is included on the Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes in Scotland, the national listing of significant gardens. The lands of Auchincruive passed from the Wallace family to the Cathcarts in 1374, although the first record of a house is in 1532, the layout of the estate was formalised from 1723, to designs by William Boutcher, Sr. This included planting north and south of the river, as shown on General Roys map of 1750, in 1758 the estate passed to James Murray of Broughton, who sold it 1764 to the merchant Richard Oswald, who built the present Auchincruive House. Robert Adam provided a design for a house to James Murray in 1764, although Oswald built the house, in modified form, adams scheme for the interiors was carried out as planned. Adam also designed Oswalds Temple, a temple or tea-house. Oswald was appointed as the British peace commissioner who negotiated the Treaty of Paris in 1783 when the American War of Independence came to an end, after the negotiations, he retired to Auchincruive where he died the following year. An east wing was built on to the house, and alterations. In 1925 the estate was sold by the Oswalds to John Hannah, a local farmer, over the next 50 years, the college erected a number of buildings within the grounds to cater for their educational and research requirements. Oswald Hall continued in use, but the temple deteriorated, and in 2003 it was included on the Buildings at Risk Register for Scotland, the plans involve the restoration of listed buildings and historic landscape features, and construction of 400–500 houses and a business research campus. Oswald Hall would become a hotel and conference centre, with Oswalds Temple used as additional accommodation, Auchincruive Waggonway Wallaces Heel Well - William Wallace found shelter in the nearby Leglen Wood

40.
Kyle, Ayrshire
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Kyle is a former comital district of Scotland which stretched across parts of modern-day East Ayrshire and South Ayrshire. It is said to be named after Coel Hen, a king of the Britons, Kyle is also a popular name with its origins meaning straight or narrow. The area was bordered by the districts of Cunninghame to the north, Clydesdale to the east. The Firth of Clyde lies to the west, the River Irvine formed the northern boundary of Kyle with Cunninghame, the River Doon established its southern boundary with Carrick. Additionally, Kyle itself was sub-divided into two parts, to the north of the River Ayr was Kyle Stewart, lands held by the FitzAlans since the 12th century. To the south was Kyle Regis or Kings Kyle, lands historically retained by the monarch under royal authority from the castle at Ayr. From 1975 to 1996 Kyle and Carrick was the name of a government district in Strathclyde region, although the larger part of historic Kyle formed Cumnock. In 1996 Kyle and Carrick was constituted as a Unitary Authority, in local government the area of Kyle makes up a council ward, bordering the council wards of Troon, Prestwick, Ayr North and Maybole, North Carrick & Coylton. It has 3 local councillors belonging to the Labour Party, the Scottish National Party, the area of Kyle includes the villages of Tarbolton. Mossblown, Symington and Dundonald as well as a number of surrounding settlements such as Craigie, St Quivox. The area effectively encompasses the portion of South Ayrshire excluding Troon, Prestwick. It is bounded by the northern and eastern borders of the South Ayrshire which border North, the southern border of the area follows the B743 until reaching Brockle Wood - which the borders cut through before following the B744, thus avoiding Annbank. It then follows the B742 to the River Ayr, the rest of the border is marked by the River Ayr. The total population of the area was 11,573 according to the 2011 census, near Cumnock, at the confluence of Guelt and Glenmuir Waters, lie the ruins of the 15th century Kyle Castle. Map of Kyle Map of Kyle Gazetteer for Scotland entry for Kyle This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Wood, James. London and New York, Frederick Warne

41.
Stenton
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Stenton is a parish and village in East Lothian, Scotland. It is bounded on the north by parts of the parishes of Prestonkirk and Dunbar, on the east by Spott, the name is said to be of Saxon derivation. The village has a number of houses, a school, springs and streams abound in many parts of the parish. A rivulet which rises in the ground of Stoneypath farm, runs through the Ruchlaw estate. Pressmennan lake, at the east end of a natural valley, with Duchrie Dod Hill and Pressmennan Hill on the south. It was artificially formed about the year 1819 by William Hamilton-Nisbet of Biel and it is the only loch of any consequence in East Lothian. The overflow water from the forms a pretty stream which runs past Broxburn, &c. and falls it the sea at Broxmouth. Stenton had been a superiority of the Lauder of The Bass family from the 13th century until the middle of the 17th century, henry the Minstrel records in his poem The Wallace that William Wallace rewarded Sir Robert de Lawedre with the lands of Stenton in 1297. The Lauders retained Stenton parish down through the centuries, the Exchequer Rolls record that Robert Lauder of The Bass was granted Sasine of Stenton in 1495 and this last Lauder laird of The Bass parted with Stenton in 1644. The superiority of the lands of Biel were held until 1489 by the Dunbar family, in the Barony of Dunbar, which had been formerly owned by Hugo Dunbar of Bele, plus the lands and mill of Mersington, Berwickshire, which Hugo Dunbar of Bele also resigned. Roberts wife Isabella, daughter of John Hay, 1st Lord Hay of Yester, is also mentioned, Biel and a number of other lands was made into a feudal barony. When his grandson Robert Lauder of The Bass died in June 1576, he was succeeded by his son James Lauder, Dean of Restalrig, James Lauder apparently continued to reside there until he was murdered by a cousin within his awin place of Beill on October 4,1580. Sixty-four years later, George, the last Lauder laird of The Bass sold the Biel estate to John Hamilton of Bromehill, Hamilton was a keen gardener, and laid out the still extant terraces from the Tower House down to the Biel Water. The Pele Tower at Biel dates from the 14th century and was added to through the years, at the west end was a large conservatory rebuilt in 1883 as a chapel. Some of these fittings were retained when the chapel and most of Atkinsons magnificent house were demolished in 1952. The house as it stood before demolition was 593 foot in length, its length being relieved by the original Tower in the middle. The lower part of the tower contains the walls of the original Pele which had barrel-vaulted rooms in the basement. The Tapestry Room was refitted by Robert Lorimer in the early 20th century and it owned the Pressmennan lake and built the house which was used as a game house for hunting and fishing

42.
East Lothian
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East Lothian, is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and a lieutenancy area. For a time, it was known as Haddingtonshire. It borders the City of Edinburgh, Midlothian and the Scottish Borders and its administrative centre is Haddington, although its largest town is Musselburgh. East Lothian is also the name of a county, which has different boundaries to the council area. The council area was created in 1996, replacing the East Lothian district of the Lothian region, when abolished, for local government purposes, in 1975, the county of East Lothian bordered the county of Midlothian to the west, and Berwickshire to the south. East Lothian is served by two local weekly newspapers, the East Lothian Courier and the East Lothian News. The former, known locally as The Courier, is the better-selling, the family firm of D. & J. Croal, based in Haddington, owned and operated the paper until it was bought by the Dunfermline Press Group in 2004. The East Lothian News was first published in 1971, as part of Scottish County Press group, with offices in Dalkeith. SCP was acquired by Regional Independent Media in 2000, which was in turn bought by Johnston Press in 2002, East Coast FM is a community radio station run by volunteers which has been broadcasting since 2009 from studios at 8 Market Street in Haddington. The station is registered as a charity, an FM Community Radio Licence was awarded to the station in September 2012 by regulator OFCOM and a frequency of 107.6 FM was allocated in January 2013. It is expected that broadcasting on this frequency will start in March 2013, the station can be accessed worldwide across the internet through their website. East Lothian FM is an Online Community Radio Station operated and managed by East Lothian Community Media Ltd, the result of this application will be announced by Ofcom in due course. 7% with a 87. 9% turnout rate. East Lothian Council official government website East Lothian at DMOZ East Lothian Directory East Lothian Courier East Lothian News East Coast FM

43.
Vassal
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A vassal or feudatory is a person regarded as having a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch, in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. The obligations often included military support and mutual protection, in exchange for certain privileges, the term is applied to similar arrangements in other feudal societies. It is like a land lord some one who own and lets you live on it, in contrast, a fidelity, or fidelitas, was a sworn, unconditional loyalty to a monarch. Such refinements were not included from the outset when it was time of crisis, war, hunger, under feudalism, those who were weakest needed the protection of the knights who owned the weapons and knew how to fight. Feudal society was based on the concept of lordship, which was one of the distinguishing features of the Early Middle Ages and had evolved from times of Late Antiquity. In the time of Charlemagne, the connection slowly developed between vassalage and the grant of land, the form of wealth at that time. Contemporaneous social developments included agricultural manorialism and the social and legal structures labelled — and these developments proceeded at different rates in various regions. In Merovingian times, monarchs would reward only the greatest and most trusted vassals with lands, even at the most extreme devolution of any remnants of central power, in 10th-century France, the majority of vassals still had no fixed estates. The stratification of a band of vassals into distinct groups might roughly correlate with the new term fief that had started to supersede benefice in the 9th century. An upper group comprised great territorial magnates, who were strong enough to ensure the inheritance of their benefice to the heirs of their family, a lower group consisted of landless knights attached to a count or duke. This social settling process also received impetus in fundamental changes in the conduct of warfare, as co-ordinated cavalry superseded disorganized infantry, armies became more expensive to maintain. A vassal needed economic resources to equip the cavalry he was bound to contribute to his lord to fight his frequent wars. Such resources, in the absence of an economy, came only from land and its associated assets. Many empires have set up states, based on tribes, kingdoms, or city-states. In these cases a state has retained internal autonomy, but has lost independence in foreign policy, while and, in many instances. In this framework, a colony or junior ally might also be regarded as a vassal state in terms of international relations. The concept of a state uses the concept of personal vassalry to theorize formally hegemonic relationships between states – even those using non-personal forms of rule. Imperial states to which this terminology has been applied include, for instance, Ancient Rome, the Mongol Empire, and the British Empire

44.
James Stewart, 5th High Steward of Scotland
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James Stewart was the 5th hereditary High Steward of Scotland and a Guardian of Scotland during the First Interregnum. James was a son of Alexander Stewart, 4th High Steward of Scotland, the date of his birth is not certainly known and some sources have placed it, on no good evidence, as early as 1243. This is now thought to be unlikely, firstly, Jamess father is known to have planned a pilgrimage to the shrine of Saint James of Compostella in 1252 or after, so that James would probably have been born after this. Secondly, Jamess Christian name was a one, uncommon in Scotland in the 13th century and not a traditional name in the Stewart family where Walter. It is therefore possible that he was not Alexanders eldest son. For these reasons, and also the fact of his son and successor Walter Stewart being described as a beardless lad around 1314 in John Barbours The Brus, in 1286 James was chosen as one of the six Guardians of Scotland. He subsequently submitted to King Edward I of England on 9 July 1297, however, during the Wars of Scottish Independence he joined Sir William Wallace. After Wallaces defeat at the Battle of Falkirk in 1298, he gave his support to Robert Bruce, later King Robert I of Scotland and his first wife was Cecilia, daughter of Patrick, Earl of Dunbar. James second wife appears to have been Muriel, daughter of Malise and his third wife was Giles, daughter of Walter de Burgh, Earl of Ulster, and sister of Richard de Burgh, Earl of Ulster. Children of James include, Walter, 6th High Steward who married King Robert Is daughter, Sir John, killed 14 October 1318 at the battle of Dundalk. Sir Andrew, younger son Sir James Stewart of Durisdeer, Tutor to his nephew, egidia Stewart, who married Sir Alexander de Menzies, of Durisdeer. To render his oath if possible secure, it was taken upon the two crosses of Scotland most esteemed for their sanctity, on the consecrated host, the holy gospels and he also agreed to submit to instant excommunication if he should break his allegiance to Edward. Convinced that his faith was to his country in spite of all, he again took up the Scottish patriotic cause

45.
Old English
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Old English or Anglo-Saxon is the earliest historical form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers probably in the mid 5th century, Old English developed from a set of Anglo-Frisian or North Sea Germanic dialects originally spoken by Germanic tribes traditionally known as the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes. As the Anglo-Saxons became dominant in England, their language replaced the languages of Roman Britain, Common Brittonic, a Celtic language, Old English had four main dialects, associated with particular Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, Mercian, Northumbrian, Kentish and West Saxon. It was West Saxon that formed the basis for the standard of the later Old English period, although the dominant forms of Middle. The speech of eastern and northern parts of England was subject to strong Old Norse influence due to Scandinavian rule, Old English is one of the West Germanic languages, and its closest relatives are Old Frisian and Old Saxon. Like other old Germanic languages, it is different from Modern English. Old English grammar is similar to that of modern German, nouns, adjectives, pronouns, and verbs have many inflectional endings and forms. The oldest Old English inscriptions were using a runic system. Old English was not static, and its usage covered a period of 700 years, from the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain in the 5th century to the late 11th century, some time after the Norman invasion. While indicating that the establishment of dates is a process, Albert Baugh dates Old English from 450 to 1150, a period of full inflections. Perhaps around 85 per cent of Old English words are no longer in use, Old English is a West Germanic language, developing out of Ingvaeonic dialects from the 5th century. It came to be spoken over most of the territory of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms which became the Kingdom of England and this included most of present-day England, as well as part of what is now southeastern Scotland, which for several centuries belonged to the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Northumbria. Other parts of the island – Wales and most of Scotland – continued to use Celtic languages, Norse was also widely spoken in the parts of England which fell under Danish law. Anglo-Saxon literacy developed after Christianisation in the late 7th century, the oldest surviving text of Old English literature is Cædmons Hymn, composed between 658 and 680. There is a corpus of runic inscriptions from the 5th to 7th centuries. The Old English Latin alphabet was introduced around the 9th century, with the unification of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms by Alfred the Great in the later 9th century, the language of government and literature became standardised around the West Saxon dialect. In Old English, typical of the development of literature, poetry arose before prose, a later literary standard, dating from the later 10th century, arose under the influence of Bishop Æthelwold of Winchester, and was followed by such writers as the prolific Ælfric of Eynsham. This form of the language is known as the Winchester standard and it is considered to represent the classical form of Old English

Guardian of Scotland
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The Guardians of Scotland were the de facto heads of state of Scotland during the First Interregnum of 1290–1292, and the Second Interregnum of 1296–1306. Guillaume de Seint Andreu et Robert de Glasgu evesques, Johan Comyn et James Seneschal de Escoce, English translation, William of St Andrews and Robert of Glasgow bishops, John Comyn and James th

1.
Great Seal appointed for the Government of the Realm after death of King Alexander III.

John Balliol
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John Balliol, known derisively as Toom Tabard was King of Scots from 1292 to 1296. Little is known of his early life, after the death of Margaret, Maid of Norway, Scotland entered an interregnum during which several competitors for the Crown of Scotland put forward claims. Balliol was chosen from them as the new King of Scotland by a group of selec

1.
King John, his crown and sceptre symbolically broken and with an empty coat of arms as depicted in the 1562 Forman Armorial, produced for Mary, Queen of Scots

2.
John Balliol and his wife.

List of Scottish monarchs
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The monarch of Scotland was the head of state of the Kingdom of Scotland. According to tradition, the first King of Scots was Kenneth MacAlpin, the distinction between the Kingdom of Scotland and the Kingdom of the Picts is rather the product of later medieval myth and confusion from a change in nomenclature i. e. The Kingdom of the Picts just beca

2.
Monarchy of Scotland

3.
Kenneth MacAlpin I (Coinneach mac Ailpein)

4.
Constantine I (Còiseam mac Choinnich)

Robert the Bruce
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Robert I, popularly known as Robert the Bruce, was King of Scots from 1306 until his death in 1329. Robert was one of the most famous warriors of his generation and he fought successfully during his reign to regain Scotlands place as an independent country and is today revered in Scotland as a national hero. As Earl of Carrick, Robert the Bruce sup

1.
Victorian depiction of Bruce

2.
Statue of Robert the Bruce at the Bannockburn battle field

3.
Drawing of Robert the Bruce and Isabella of Mar, from 1562

4.
The killing of Comyn in the Greyfriars church in Dumfries, as imagined by Felix Philippoteaux, a 19th-century illustrator.

John III Comyn, Lord of Badenoch
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He is best known for having been stabbed to death by Robert the Bruce before the altar at the church of the Greyfriars at Dumfries. His father, John II Comyn, Lord of Badenoch, known as the Black Comyn, was one of the Competitors for the Crown of Scotland and his mother was Eleanor Balliol, eldest daughter of John I de Balliol, father of King John

1.
The killing of Comyn in the Greyfriars church in Dumfries, as seen by Felix Philippoteaux, a 19th-century illustrator.

Elderslie
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Elderslie is a village in the council area and historic county of Renfrewshire in west central Scotland. The village is situated midway between the towns of Paisley and Johnstone. Elderslie is disputed as the birthplace of Sir William Wallace, a knight born around 1270 who served as a leader in the Wars of Scottish Independence before being capture

1.
Wallace Monument

Renfrewshire
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Renfrewshire is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It also shares borders with Glasgow, North Ayrshire and West Dunbartonshire, Renfrewshire borders the south-west of Glasgow, lying on the south bank of the River Clyde, and contains many of Glasgows commuter towns and villages, as well as rural areas. Present day Renfrewshire borders the south-we

1.
Renfrewshire House, headquarters of Renfrewshire Council

2.
Renfrewshire Siorrachd Rinn Friù

3.
Paisley Abbey

Scotland
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Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and covers the northern third of the island of Great Britain. It shares a border with England to the south, and is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, with the North Sea to the east. In addition to the mainland, the country is made up of more than 790 islands, including the Northern Isles, the

1.
Edinburgh Castle. Human habitation of the site is dated back as far as the 9th century BC, although the nature of this early settlement is unclear.

2.
Flag

3.
The class I Pictish stone at Aberlemno known as Aberlemno 1 or the Serpent Stone.

Smithfield, London
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Smithfield is a locality in the ward of Farringdon Without situated at the City of Londons northwest in central London, England. The principal street of the area is West Smithfield, the area also contains Londons oldest surviving church, St Bartholomew-the-Great, founded in 1123 AD. Some of its original market premises fell into disuse in the late

1.
Smithfield Meat Market

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Smithfield from the "woodcut" map of c. 1561, illustrating its proximity with open fields to the west, and cattle pens by the City

3.
Smithfield in 1827, from John Greenwood 's map of London

England
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England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west, the Irish Sea lies northwest of England and the Celtic Sea lies to the southwest. England is separated from continental Europe by the North Sea to the east, the country covers five-eighths of the island of Great Britain

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Stonehenge, a Neolithic monument

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Flag

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Boudica led an uprising against the Roman Empire

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Replica of a 7th-century ceremonial helmet from the Kingdom of East Anglia, found at Sutton Hoo

Hanged, drawn and quartered
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To be hanged, drawn and quartered was from 1351 a statutory penalty in England for men convicted of high treason, although the ritual was first recorded during the reign of King Henry III. Convicts were fastened to a hurdle, or wooden panel, and drawn by horse to the place of execution and their remains were often displayed in prominent places acro

1.
The execution of Hugh Despenser the Younger, as depicted in the Froissart of Louis of Gruuthuse

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As illustrated in Matthew Paris 's Chronica Majora, William de Marisco is drawn to his execution tied to the back of a horse.

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Edward III, under whose rule the Treason Act 1351 was enacted. It defined in law what constituted high treason.

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The spiked heads of executed criminals once adorned the gatehouse of the medieval London Bridge.

Kingdom of Scotland
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The Kingdom of Scotland was a state in northwest Europe traditionally said to have been founded in 843, which joined with the Kingdom of England to form a unified Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. Its territories expanded and shrank, but it came to occupy the third of the island of Great Britain. It suffered many invasions by the English, but under

1.
James VI, whose inheritance of the thrones of England and Ireland created a dynastic union in 1603

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Flag

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Coronation of Alexander III of Scotland at Scone Abbey; beside him are the Mormaers of Strathearn and Fife while his genealogy is recited by a royal poet.

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The Regiam Majestatem is the oldest surviving written digest of Scots law.

First War of Scottish Independence
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De facto independence was established in 1314 at the Battle of Bannockburn. England attempted to establish its authority over Scotland while the Scots fought to keep English rule, when King Alexander III ruled Scotland, his reign had seen a period of peace and economic stability. On 19 March 1286, however, Alexander died after falling from his hors

Battle of Stirling Bridge
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The Battle of Stirling Bridge was a battle of the First War of Scottish Independence. The Earl of Surrey had won a victory over the aristocracy of Scotland at the Battle of Dunbar, however, by August 1297 Moray and Wallace controlled almost all of Scotland north of the Forth, except for Dundee. Surrey marched north with an army from Berwick to reli

1.
Old Stirling Bridge with the Abbey Craig and Wallace Monument

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The present-day Stirling Bridge

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Stirling Bridge from the south bank of the River Forth with the Wallace Monument in the background

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A Victorian depiction of the battle. The bridge collapse suggests that the artist has been influenced by Blind Harry's account.

Battle of Falkirk
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The Battle of Falkirk, which took place on 22 July 1298, was one of the major battles in the First War of Scottish Independence. Led by King Edward I of England, the English army defeated the Scots, shortly after the battle Wallace resigned as Guardian of Scotland. King Edward learned of the defeat of his army at the Battle of Stirling Bridge. As a

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A British illustration of Antony Bek's charge

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This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (July 2015)

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Panel 1 - La Vaunt Garde

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Panel 2 - La Batayle le Eveske de Dureme

Scottish Gaelic
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Scottish Gaelic or Scots Gaelic, sometimes also referred to as Gaelic, is a Celtic language native to Scotland. A member of the Goidelic branch of the Celtic languages, Scottish Gaelic, like Modern Irish and Manx, developed out of Middle Irish. The 2011 census of Scotland showed that a total of 57,375 people in Scotland could speak Gaelic at that t

3.
Coronation of King Alexander III on Moot Hill, Scone on 13 July 1249. He is being greeted by the ollamh rìgh, the royal poet, who is addressing him with the proclamation "Benach De Re Albanne" (= Beannachd Dè Rìgh Alban, "God's Blessing on the King of Scotland"); the poet goes on to recite Alexander's genealogy.

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Public signage in Gaelic is becoming increasingly common throughout the Scottish Highlands. This sign is located in the bilingual port community of Mallaig.

Anglo-Norman language
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Anglo-Norman, also known as Anglo-Norman French, is a variety of the Norman language that was used in England and, to a lesser extent, elsewhere in the British Isles during the Anglo-Norman period. One of these was Old Norman, also known as Old Northern French, other followers spoke varieties of the Picard language or western French. It was spoken

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About 28% of English vocabulary comes from French, including the Anglo-French language (green)

Knight
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A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a monarch or other political leader for service to the monarch or country, especially in a military capacity. Historically, in Europe, knighthood was conferred upon mounted warriors, during the High Middle Ages, knighthood was considered a class of lower nobility. By the Late Middle Ag

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David I of Scotland knighting a squire

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The English fighting the French knights at the Battle of Crécy in 1346.

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Khosrau II dressed as a mounted Persian knight riding on his favourite horse, Shabdiz. One of the oldest known reliefs of a heavily armoured cavalryman, from the Sassanid empire, Taqé Bostan, Iran (4th century).

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A Norman knight slaying Harold Godwinson (Bayeux tapestry, c. 1070). The rank of knight developed in the 12th century from the mounted warriors of the 10th and 11th centuries.

Wars of Scottish Independence
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The Wars of Scottish Independence were a series of military campaigns fought between the Kingdom of Scotland and the Kingdom of England in the late 13th and early 14th centuries. The First War began with the English invasion of Scotland in 1296, the Second War began with the English-supported invasion by Edward Balliol and the Disinherited in 1332,

3.
Notable figures from the first War of Independence as depicted by the Victorian artist William Hole

4.
Bannockburn Monument plaque

Andrew Moray
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Andrew Moray, also known as Andrew de Moray, Andrew of Moray, or Andrew Murray, an esquire, was prominent in the Scottish Wars of Independence. He led the rising in north Scotland in the summer of 1297 against the occupation by King Edward I of England and he subsequently merged his forces with those led by William Wallace and jointly led the combi

1.
Duffus Castle. The stone-built bailey is a 14th-century addition to the site of Freskin's castle.

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Elgin Cathedral, from the west. Construction of it was begun under the supervision of Bishop Andrew Moray.

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A depiction of a meeting of the English Parliament in 1278 in which King Alexander III is shown sitting at King Edward I's right.

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Image of King Edward from a contemporary memorandum

Robroyston
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Robroyston is a northeastern suburb of the city of Glasgow, Scotland. It was where Scottish leader William Wallace was turned over to English soldiers in 1305, at the site of Wallaces capture there stands a monument — there have also been proposals put forward for a visitors centre in the area, at the site of the monument. About 200 yards from the

Glasgow
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Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland, and third largest in the United Kingdom. Historically part of Lanarkshire, it is now one of the 32 council areas of Scotland and it is situated on the River Clyde in the countrys West Central Lowlands. Inhabitants of the city are referred to as Glaswegians, Glasgow grew from a small rural settlement on the R

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Clockwise from top-left: View of Glasgow Science Centre, Duke of Wellington statue outside Gallery of Modern Art, Royal Exchange Square, cityscape view from The Lighthouse, Gilbert Scott Building of University of Glasgow, Finnieston Crane, Glasgow City Chambers

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The seal or signet of Jocelin, Bishop of Glasgow, founder of the burgh of Glasgow.

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Shipping on the Clyde, Atkinson Grimshaw, 1881.

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Glasgow University in the 1890s

Edward I of England
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Edward I, also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England from 1272 to 1307. He spent much of his reign reforming royal administration and common law, through an extensive legal inquiry, Edward investigated the tenure of various feudal liberties, while the law was reformed through a series of statutes regulating cri

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Portrait in Westminster Abbey, thought to be of Edward I

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Early fourteenth-century manuscript initial showing Edward and his wife Eleanor. The artist has perhaps tried to depict Edward's blepharoptosis, a trait he inherited from his father.

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Medieval manuscript showing Simon de Montfort 's mutilated body at the field of Evesham

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Operations during the Crusade of Edward I

Hanged, drawn, and quartered
–
To be hanged, drawn and quartered was from 1351 a statutory penalty in England for men convicted of high treason, although the ritual was first recorded during the reign of King Henry III. Convicts were fastened to a hurdle, or wooden panel, and drawn by horse to the place of execution and their remains were often displayed in prominent places acro

1.
The execution of Hugh Despenser the Younger, as depicted in the Froissart of Louis of Gruuthuse

2.
As illustrated in Matthew Paris 's Chronica Majora, William de Marisco is drawn to his execution tied to the back of a horse.

3.
Edward III, under whose rule the Treason Act 1351 was enacted. It defined in law what constituted high treason.

4.
The spiked heads of executed criminals once adorned the gatehouse of the medieval London Bridge.

Protagonist
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A protagonist is the main character in any story, such as a literary work or drama. The protagonist is at the center of the story, typically makes the key decisions, the protagonist usually affects the main characters circumstances as well, as they are often the primary actor propelling the story forward. If a story contains a subplot, or is a made

1.
In Shakespeare 's Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, Hamlet is the protagonist. He is set in a tragic situation, where the ghost of his dead father urges him to take revenge on his uncle, who had murdered the father. Portrait of Hamlet by William Morris Hunt, oil on canvas, circa 1864.

Blind Harry
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This was a lengthy poem recounting the life of William Wallace, the Scottish independence leader, written around 1477,172 years after Wallaces death. Little is known about Blind Harrys life, one source is the Lord High Treasurers accounts of 1473–1492, which recorded payments to him for performances at the court of James IV. This is the last mentio

1.
Blind Harry by Alexander Stoddart

Epic poem
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An epic poem, epic, epos, or epopee is a lengthy narrative poem, ordinarily concerning a serious subject containing details of heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation. Milman Parry and Albert Lord have argued that the Homeric epics and these works form the basis of the epic genre in Western literature. Nearly all Western epic sel

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Tablet containing a fragment of the Epic of Gilgamesh

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The first page of the Beowulf manuscript, 8th to 10th century.

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Statue of Iranian poet Ferdowsi in Rome, Italy. Ferdowsi's national epic Shahnameh played an important role in revival of Iranian patriotism and the Persian language after both were systematically suppressed by the Arab occupation of Iran

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The Knight in the Panther's Skin by Shota Rustaveli, one of the greatest Georgian poets.

The Wallace (poem)
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As the title suggests, it commemorates and eulogises the life and actions of the Scottish freedom fighter William Wallace who lived a century and a half earlier. The poem is historically inaccurate, and mentions several events that never happened, for several hundred years following its publication, The Wallace was the second most popular book in S

1.
The Ramsay Manuscript of "The Wallace", 1488. (National Library of Scotland).

Walter Scott
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Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet, FRSE was a Scottish historical novelist, playwright and poet. Many of his works remain classics of both English-language literature and of Scottish literature, famous titles include Ivanhoe, Rob Roy, Old Mortality, The Lady of the Lake, Waverley, The Heart of Midlothian and The Bride of Lammermoor. A prominent member

1.
Raeburn 's portrait of Sir Walter Scott in 1822.

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Signature

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Scott's childhood at Sandyknowes, in the shadow of Smailholm Tower, introduced him to the tales and folklore of the Scottish Borders.

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The Scott's family home in George Square, Edinburgh

Jane Porter
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Jane Porter was a Scottish historical novelist, dramatist and literary figure. Her work The Scottish Chiefs is seen as one of the earliest historical novels, Jane Porter was born in Durham as the third of the five children of William Porter and Jane née Blenkinsop. Tall and beautiful as she grew up, Jane Porters grave air earned her the nickname La

1.
Jane Porter, from The Ladies' Monthly Museum

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Engraving of the author from an 1846 edition of The Pastor's Fireside

Academy Award
–
The various category winners are awarded a copy of a golden statuette, officially called the Academy Award of Merit, which has become commonly known by its nickname Oscar. The awards, first presented in 1929 at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, are overseen by AMPAS, the awards ceremony was first broadcast on radio in 1930 and televised for the first

Film
–
A film, also called a movie, motion picture, theatrical film or photoplay, is a series of still images which, when shown on a screen, creates the illusion of moving images due to the phi phenomenon. This optical illusion causes the audience to perceive continuous motion between separate objects viewed rapidly in succession, the process of filmmakin

1.
A vintage Fox movietone motion picture camera

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The Berlin Wintergarten theatre was the site of the first cinema ever, with a short film presented by the Skladanowsky brothers on 1 November 1895. The image depicts a July 1940 variety show.

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This 16 mm spring-wound Bolex "H16" Reflex camera is a popular entry level camera used in film schools.

Braveheart
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Braveheart is a 1995 American epic war film directed by and starring Mel Gibson. Gibson portrays William Wallace, a 13th-century Scottish warrior who led the Scots in the First War of Scottish Independence against King Edward I of England. The story is inspired by Blind Harrys epic poem The Actes and Deidis of the Illustre, the film was nominated f

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Theatrical release poster

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Gibson (right) on set with 20th Century Fox executive Scott Neeson

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Tom Church's Freedom statue.

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Mel Gibson as William Wallace wearing woad.

Seal (device)
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A seal is a device for making an impression in wax, clay, paper, or some other medium, including an embossment on paper, and is also the impression thus made. The original purpose was to authenticate a document, a wrapper for one such as a modern envelope, the seal-making device is also referred to as the seal matrix or die, the imprint it creates

Hanse
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The Hanseatic League was a commercial and defensive confederation of merchant guilds and their market towns. Growing from a few North German towns in the late 1100s and it stretched from the Baltic to the North Sea and inland during the Late Middle Ages and early modern period. Hanse, later spelled as Hansa, was the Middle Low German word for a con

1.
Northern Europe in 1400, showing the extent of the Hansa.

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The Hanseatic League was a powerful economic and defensive alliance that left a great cultural and architectural heritage. It is especially renowned for its Brick Gothic monuments, such as St. Nikolai and the city hall of Stralsund shown here. Together with Wismar, the old town is a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

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Foundation of the alliance between Lübeck and Hamburg

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Town Hall of Reval (now Tallinn, Estonia).

Ayrshire
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Ayrshire is a historic county in south-west Scotland, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. It is also, under the name the County of Ayr and its principal towns include Ayr, Kilmarnock and Irvine. Like the other counties of Scotland, it currently has no function, instead being sub-divided into the council areas of North Ayrshire, South Ayrsh

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Ayrshire, with rivers and several towns.

2.
Ayrshire

Riccarton, Ayrshire
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Riccarton is a village and parish in East Ayrshire, Scotland. It lies across the River Irvine from Kilmarnock, this forming the boundary between Riccarton and Kilmarnock parishes, and also between the historical districts of Kyle and Cunningham. The name is a corruption of Richards town, traditionally said to refer to Richard Wallace, the parish al

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Detail of memorial to Caprington Cunninghames.

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A memorial bearing a bodkin, shears and an iron.

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The house built at the old bridge from the ruins of old Riccarton Kirk.

Tarbolton
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Tarbolton is a village in South Ayrshire, Scotland. It is near Failford, Mauchline and the same bar a few hundreds yards to Ayr. The old Fail Monastery was nearby and Robert Burns connections are strong, including the Bachelors Club museum, the name was recorded as Torbolten in 1138, suggesting this origin. Village by the field and hill, from Old E

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Hood's Hill or Tarbolton Motte.

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Tarbolton church.

Auchincruive
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Auchincruive is a former country house and estate in South Ayrshire, Scotland. It is located 4 kilometres east of Ayr, on the bank of the River Ayr. Auchincruive House was built in the 18th century on the site of an earlier mansion, in 1927 the estate became the West of Scotland College of Agriculture, and the house was renamed Oswald Hall. The col

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Auchincruive House, now known as Oswald Hall

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Oswald's Temple or tea-house

Kyle, Ayrshire
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Kyle is a former comital district of Scotland which stretched across parts of modern-day East Ayrshire and South Ayrshire. It is said to be named after Coel Hen, a king of the Britons, Kyle is also a popular name with its origins meaning straight or narrow. The area was bordered by the districts of Cunninghame to the north, Clydesdale to the east.

1.
Map of Scotland showing the district of Kyle

Stenton
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Stenton is a parish and village in East Lothian, Scotland. It is bounded on the north by parts of the parishes of Prestonkirk and Dunbar, on the east by Spott, the name is said to be of Saxon derivation. The village has a number of houses, a school, springs and streams abound in many parts of the parish. A rivulet which rises in the ground of Stone

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Stenton showing the village Tron

2.
Biel House, c1900

East Lothian
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East Lothian, is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and a lieutenancy area. For a time, it was known as Haddingtonshire. It borders the City of Edinburgh, Midlothian and the Scottish Borders and its administrative centre is Haddington, although its largest town is Musselburgh. East Lothian is also the name of a county, which has different bou

1.
East Lothian or Haddingtonshire Civil Parish map.

2.
East Lothian Aest Lowden Lodainn an Ear

Vassal
–
A vassal or feudatory is a person regarded as having a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch, in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. The obligations often included military support and mutual protection, in exchange for certain privileges, the term is applied to similar arrangements in other feudal societies. It is like a land lor

1.
Harold Sacramentum Fecit Willelmo Duci (Bayeux Tapestry)

James Stewart, 5th High Steward of Scotland
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James Stewart was the 5th hereditary High Steward of Scotland and a Guardian of Scotland during the First Interregnum. James was a son of Alexander Stewart, 4th High Steward of Scotland, the date of his birth is not certainly known and some sources have placed it, on no good evidence, as early as 1243. This is now thought to be unlikely, firstly, J

1.
Steward Coat of Arms

Old English
–
Old English or Anglo-Saxon is the earliest historical form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers probably in the mid 5th century, Old English developed from a set of Anglo-Frisian or North Sea Germanic dialects originally spoken

1.
A detail of the first page of the Beowulf manuscript, showing the words "ofer hron rade", i.e. "over the whale's road (=sea)". It is an example of an Old English stylistic device, the kenning.

2.
North Germanic

3.
"Her swutelað seo gecwydrædnes ðe" Old English inscription over the arch of the south porticus in the 10th-century St Mary's parish church, Breamore, Hampshire

4.
The first page of the Beowulf manuscript with its opening Hƿæt ƿē Gārde/na ingēar dagum þēod cyninga / þrym ge frunon... "Listen! We of the Spear-Danes from days of yore have heard of the glory of the folk-kings..."

1.
Coronation of King Alexander on Moot Hill, Scone. He is being greeted by the ollamh rígh, the royal poet, who is addressing him with the proclamation "Benach De Re Albanne" (= Beannachd Dé Rígh Alban, "God Bless the King of Scotland"); the poet goes on to recite Alexander's genealogy. By Alexander's side is Maol Choluim II, Earl of Fife holding the sword.

2.
Statue of Alexander on the west door of St. Giles, Edinburgh

3.
Alexander III being rescued from the fury of a stag by Colin Fitzgerald

3.
Troops of the Eight-Nation Alliance in 1900, shows British and American soldiers significantly taller than some soldiers of the world. Left-to-right: Britain, United States, Australian colonial, British India, Germany, France, Russia, Italy, Japan.

1.
Clockwise, from top left: John of Bohemia at the Battle of Crécy, English and Franco-Castilian fleets at the Battle of La Rochelle, Henry V and the English army at the Battle of Agincourt, Joan of Arc rallies French forces at the Siege of Orléans

2.
Homage of Edward I of England (kneeling) to Philip IV of France (seated), 1286. As Duke of Aquitaine, Edward was also a vassal to the French King.

3.
Battle of Sluys from a manuscript of Froissart's Chronicles, Bruge, c.1470

1.
The Palace of Westminster with Elizabeth Tower and Westminster Bridge, viewed from across the River Thames

2.
Conjectural restoration of Westminster during reign of Henry VIII

3.
Parliament before 1834 Fire with Old Palace Yard in foreground

4.
A detail from John Rocque's 1746 map of London. St Stephen's Chapel, labelled "H of Comm" (House of Commons), was adjacent to Westminster Hall; the Parliament Chamber—labelled "H of L" (House of Lords)—and the Prince's Chamber were to the far south. The Court of Requests, between the two Houses, would become the new home of the Lords in 1801. At the north-east, by the river, stood Speaker's House.

1.
Henry Danvers, Earl of Danby, was outlawed in 1597 by a coroner's court for the murder of Henry Long. He went to France and joined the French army; two years later he was pardoned by Queen Elizabeth and returned to England.

2.
Robin Hood statue in Nottingham

3.
A small band of southern Italian brigands from Bisaccia, photographed in 1862

3.
The execution of guards of the Stutthof concentration camp on July 4th 1946 by short-drop hanging. In the foreground were the female guards: Jenny-Wanda Barkmann, Ewa Paradies, Elisabeth Becker, Wanda Klaff, Gerda Steinhoff (left to right)

2.
An engraving by Claes Visscher showing Old London Bridge in 1616, with what is now Southwark Cathedral in the foreground. The spiked heads of executed criminals can be seen above the Southwark gatehouse.

3.
Detail of Old London Bridge on the 1632 oil painting "View of London Bridge" by Claude de Jongh

4.
This pedestrian alcove, now in Victoria Park, Tower Hamlets, is one of the surviving fragments of the old London Bridge that was demolished in 1831.